With the world marking Christmas, the birth of Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of peace, the world continues to suffer from waves of wars, hunger, and instability particularly in the Middle East. It is a groaning world with shed blood seeping heavily in several parts of the world.
During Christmas, people worldwide offer prayers and raise their hands high in prayer seeking the Prince of Peace’s mercy and divine intervention to silence the sounds of war as well as to help “beat swords into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks.” (Isaiah 2:4)
With hopes that the cycle of violence will shortly come to an end in the Middle East, cases of suffering and persecution of Christians continue to escalate in various parts of the world. It is really worrying that such a persecution has reached exorbitant levels particularly in Nicaragua.
In Nicaragua, the persecution on clergymen and religious sisters–the people of God on Earth–has reached a stage beyond description that elicits all forms of denunciation and condemnation. It is really important to ensure that such acrimonious stands come to an end instantly. What is taking place in Nicaragua is reminiscent of an event that had taken place. It is relevant to Saul, as mentioned in the Old Testament, which states, “But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 9: 1-5)
Press reports indicate that crackdown on the Catholic Church, the Church of Lord Jesus Christ, began in Nicaragua in April 2018, since then, the suppression of the church has only increased in its ferocity with 2024 being a constant spin of persecution, and with the arrest or expulsion of Catholic bishops, clergy, religious and lay men and women, and the shuttering of Catholic humanitarian organizations. Religious congregations and nongovernmental organizations, as well as Catholic schools and universities, also had their legal status revoked and forced to shutter operations in the country, including the Missionaries of Charity. Why is persecution targeting the Church of the Lord?
Those who carry out persecution against the Catholic Church assume that “there were no tomorrow”. They will definitely regret such evil deeds for “tomorrow” is coming and the sun of justice and religious freedom will ultimately rise, as such evil acts sooner or later will come to an end. Over the years, the Catholic Church has been a model to be emulated regarding enacting mercy, love, and nobility while doing its utmost to alleviate the pains of the suffering and doing to utmost to feed the hungry, provide medical health to the needy, and bring about hope through providing spiritual salvation. This Church has undertaken all the time innumerable noble services in several fields, notably healthcare and education among others. Charity organizations affiliated with the Catholic Church have steadily been providing all kinds of needed aid to suffering people particularly to Lebanon and the Holy Land, specifically for the Gaza Strip.
Among such noble achievements of the Catholic Church is the launching of a hospital boat named the “Pope Francis” which set sail on August 17, 2019 in the Amazon River to bring medical care to rural populations. Pope Francis said in a letter sent at time to mark the ship’s launch saying, “Just as Jesus, who appeared walking on water, calmed the storm and strengthened the faith of the disciples, this boat will bring spiritual comfort and calm to the worries of needy men and women, abandoned to their fate.” Actually, the hospital boat tends to some 5,200 people’s health and spiritual needs, which Sister Marcia Lopes Assis serves aboard in the Juruti-Pará region of the Amazon Forest in Brazil.
Furthermore, Pope Francis is once again demonstrating his closeness to the suffering people of Ukraine, sending the head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Service of Charity, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, to the war-torn country in the days before Christmas by sending a gift of a mobile hospital and other medical supplies.
With Christmas celebrations, may peace, mercy, and benevolent deeds engulf the world with divine blessing covering the entire world. May the state of persecution be terminated, so that such a chink of hope will ultimately enhance an atmosphere of fraternal love everywhere.
Merry Christmas and happy returns of the day.
By Munir Bayouk | en.abouna.org
