Glad to see that you are back for more!
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| Annual Westminster Event 2014 |
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| Fr Michael Shields talks to ACN Benefactors |
Lunch for ACN staff was a quick stand-up
affair in the kitchen (thanks to my colleague Chris for the delicious
sandwich—ham and cheese with mustard: a classic!). A bit of strategizing for
the afternoon sessions, a quick mobile phone charge and it was back into the
fray. I had a bit of a wander while drinking my cup of tea; I love meeting
people and any time spent away from my solitary office needs to be enjoyed to
the fullest possible extent! I met a very nice man who told me how much he
loves our Christmas cards (and who came back later to hand me an extra donation
for ACN—thank you!). I also met a couple from just outside of London who wanted
to ask their priest to set up an appeal in their parish. I caught up with
Bishop Hlib Lonchyna, the London-based Exarch of the Ukrainian Catholic Church;
he lent me some vestments for an exhibition several years ago and I was glad of
the chance to let him know how grateful I was. Frankly, I could have spent an
hour or two chatting to people…but the show must go on and we were soon called
to order for the afternoon session.
It will be difficult to express my thoughts
and feelings about these three talks in just a few paragraphs, but I shall do my
best. The first speaker was my colleague John Pontifex, Head of Press &
Information at ACNUK. John has just returned from Iraq and brought with him a
number of truly moving stories told to him directly by displaced Christians
currently trying to manage from day to day in Northern Iraq. I’ll limit myself
to just one here (but only for the sake of brevity…). John met two 80-year-old
women from a village on the Nineveh Plains. Victoria and Gisella were too
elderly and infirm to flee, so they remained in their homes as IS members
invaded their village. After several days locked in their houses—they were
neighbours—they were forcibly removed to a nearby Christian shrine and thrown
together with a number of elderly, disabled and infirm Christians. They were
told that they must convert to Islam or die. These two courageous women looked
their captors in the eye and said “if you want to kill us for our faith then we
are prepared to die here and now.” Clearly this was unexpected and the bemused IS
soldiers let them go. They found their way to a refugee camp and were able to
welcome John with open arms when he visited them. It is hard to imagine anyone
being much braver than these two devout women; there are no words for this sort
of faith.
John made it clear that, though the situation
is dire in terms of day-to-day necessities and the possibility of even a
short-term solution minimal at best, there remains a solid underlying core of
Christian faith that we in the west must look to with awe and deep respect. We
must do all we can—through prayer, awareness-raising and financial support—to
secure peace and religious tolerance throughout this troubled region.
Bishop Borys Gudziak, Bishop of the Eparchy of
St Volodymyr, gave a talk about Christianity in his country that hit very close
to home for me. My Ukrainian Catholic mother-in-law was born in Lvov just
before the horrible famine of 1939 hit her region and left with her family
along with thousands of her family’s friends and neighbours in 1945; Bishop
Borys told us of a thriving city of 300,000 inhabitants which within a few
years housed only 60,000 following the systematic expulsion of Poles, Jews and
many others and the incarceration of one-third of the Ukrainian population in
Siberian prison camps. He spoke of the Maidan movement which worked to support
the fight for freedom and unity throughout Ukraine and the extremely important
role of Christian clerics and liturgy in this crusade. He also outlined the
current dire situation in Crimea where he told us that the Ukrainian Catholic
Church is ‘hanging on by a thread.’ Bishop Borys made clear the enormous debt
that his Church owes to ACN, its greatest benefactor. Today there are 3000
Ukrainian Catholic priests in Ukraine; this is up from just 300 in 1989. There
are 800 seminarians…with 100 new entrants each year. Bishop Borys said that ACN
‘gives hope, rebuilds trust, fosters faith and gives us love’. It is hard to
come up with higher praise than that.
The final talk of the day was given by Fr
Michael Shields, an American priest who ministers in Magadan, Siberia. Many,
many miles from the next church or priest, Fr Shields has spent years living
and working with the small population of this former prison camp. A profoundly
moving speaker, Fr Michael spoke enthusiastically about the people with whom he
lives. Many remain damaged from past experiences and all are living in a very
isolated and remote community where nature is more often foe than friend. He
brought with him two relics from Magadan, both possessions of a woman, now
dead, who spent 8 years in prison in Magadan. First he showed us a small piece
of fabric bearing her prisoner id number; she told him that for those 8 years
no one called her by her name, her number serving as the sole mark of her
individuality. More moving than this, though, was the second object. He held in
his hand a set of rosary beads that his prisoner friend had fashioned for
herself out of bits of bread rolled into beads and strung together with a
fishbone needle and bits of thread scavenged from her mattress. She was not
permitted to pray aloud or even to bow her head, but still she found a way to
fashion these beads to help her express her faith. Another anonymous, truly
heroic Christian made strong by the Cross that she was forced to bear.
An informed and informative Q&A session
followed and the day ended with Archbishop Nassar reciting the Lord’s Prayer in
our Lord’s language and blessing us all in his own native Arabic. Fr Shields
had told us earlier that ACN ‘goes to suffer with those who are suffering.’ I
left Westminster Hall more determined that ever to try and lighten the burden
of these suffering people.
Thanks for reading! Caroline
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