Victim of Muslim Brutality Beatified
Bishop Flavianus Michael Melki was beatified 100 years to the day of his martyrdom
HARISSA, Lebanon, September 1, 2015 (ChurchMilitant.com) - A Syrian Catholic bishop martyred in the Assyrian Genocide was beatified on August 29 by Pope Francis.
Born in 1858, Blessed Melkī was ordained a priest in 1883 and ordained the Syriac Catholic bishop of Gazireh (now Cizre, Turkey) in 1913. He was martyred two years later in the Assyrian genocide, after he refused to convert to Islam.
Earlier in August, Pope Francis approved Melkī’s beatification after he determined that Melkī was truly martyred. The Pope's chosen beatification date of August 29 is the 100-year anniversary of Blessed Melkī’s martyrdom, down to the very day.
In an exclusive interview with Vatican Radio, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cdl. Angelo Amato, said that Blessed Flavyānus Mikhayil Melkī is a model of holiness for our time, in which once again the oldest Christian communities face the threat of possible extinction.
Earlier in August, Pope Francis approved Melkī’s beatification after he determined that Melkī was truly martyred. The Pope's chosen beatification date of August 29 is the 100-year anniversary of Blessed Melkī’s martyrdom, down to the very day.
In an exclusive interview with Vatican Radio, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cdl. Angelo Amato, said that Blessed Flavyānus Mikhayil Melkī is a model of holiness for our time, in which once again the oldest Christian communities face the threat of possible extinction.
Today, as it was one hundred years ago, darkness has fallen in many countries of ancient Christian civilization: The faithful are discriminated against, persecuted, expelled, killed; their houses are not marked with the blood of the Passover lamb to be saved, but with the red "Nu," for '"One belonging to the Nazarene," meaning Christians, as the mark of their sentence.
Cardinal Amato went on to say, "As it was one hundred years ago, at the time of the martyrdom of bishop Melkī, Christians are denied every liberty, they are forced to leave their homeland, or to convert or die."
"In fact," he explained, "death reigns supreme in the persecutors' minds and hearts of stone, who cannot stand the Christian civilization of liberty, respect for others, fraternity justice, charity."
On August 29, Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Yonan presided at the Beatification Mass with Pope Francis. Following his August 30 Angelus, the Pope made a statement.
"In fact," he explained, "death reigns supreme in the persecutors' minds and hearts of stone, who cannot stand the Christian civilization of liberty, respect for others, fraternity justice, charity."
On August 29, Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Yonan presided at the Beatification Mass with Pope Francis. Following his August 30 Angelus, the Pope made a statement.
In the context of a terrible persecution of Christians, he was a tireless defender of the rights of his people, urging all to remain firm in the faith. Even today, dear brothers and sisters, in the Middle East and other parts of the world, Christians are persecuted. There are more martyrs than there were in the first centuries.
May the beatification of this bishop-martyr instill in them consolation, courage, and hope. Let it also be a stimulus to legislators and government leaders to insure religious freedom everywhere, and to the international community to put an end to violence and oppression.
The Assyrian Genocide is a controversial event in history; a number of Muslims object to applying the label "genocide" to the slaughter of Christians at the hand of the Turks, accusing those who use that term of bigotry against Islam.
The genocide was a plan of extermination carried out by the Ottoman Empire on the Chaldean, Syriac and Assyrian populations, all of which were Christian. The Ottomans attempted to exterminate them during a wider ethnic cleansing campaign, which also included the Armenian and Greek genocides.
The Assyrian extermination campaign lasted from 1914 to 1923, Turkey's rulers carrying on the killing even after their empire had been destroyed during World War I. The death toll varies depending on which historical record you consult, with figures ranging from 270,000 to 750,000.
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