FRANCISCANS REFUSE TO ABANDON FLOCK IN ISIS-CONTROLLED TERRITORY
NEWS: WORLD NEWS
by "A shepherd does not abandon his flock and does not ask whether his sheep are worth much or little"
JERUSALEM (ChurchMilitant.com) - Franciscan friars ministering in ISIS-controlled parts of Syria are choosing not to leave the people to whom they minister, even if it means they are killed.
The Franciscan Friars of the Custody of the Holy Land maintain many holy sites in Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Syria. They currently own and administer 74 shrines and sanctuaries and share custody of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Shrine of the Nativity in Nazareth with Orthodox churches.
The community's Prior, Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, recently polled the friars who lived in ISIS-controlled parts of Syria, asking if they wanted to leave the area and move to safer places.
Pizzaballa confirmed: "Almost all have clearly expressed the view that it is only right to remain in the villages, without consideration for the number of parishioners or the danger involved."
The number of Christians left in militant Islamist areas in Syria is in the hundreds. Bells, crosses and statues have been removed from their churches, and they aren’t allowed to show any external signs of devotion.
Pizzaballa continued, "A shepherd does not abandon his flock and does not ask whether his sheep are worth much or little, or if they are numerous or young. For a shepherd all the sheep are important and he loves them all the same way."
Franciscans have a special connection with the people of the Middle East and Muslims.
Tradition maintains that in 1219 St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscans, journeyed to Damietta in Egypt during the Fifth Crusade. He and another friar left the Crusaders' camp and went out to the Muslim forces to try to convert them. They were soon captured, beaten and imprisoned for a short time. Finally, St. Francis met the sultan (Al-Kamil) and preached to him.
Saint Francis offered a challenge to the sultan, requesting two large fires be built. Francis then called the imams to get in one fire and he in the other. He said the one representing the true faith would emerge unburned. The Sultan’s imams refused while Francis went into his fire and stayed there unburned. The sultan was moved by Francis' witness and allowed him and his friars to preach unhindered throughout his empire.
After the deaths of St. Francis and the sultan, the Franciscans had a continuous presence in the Holy Land, being allowed by subsequent sultans to occupy the holy places. When the Turks captured Jerusalem in 1552 they were banished from the area until the erection of the State of Israel in 1948.
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