By Oliver Maksan
The Catholic Church on
the Arabian Peninsula has expressed its dismay at the indifference world
opinion has shown in response to the nuns murdered in Yemen. In Aden on March
4, 2016, four nuns of the order founded by the Blessed Mother Teresa, whose
work involved the care of the elderly and disabled—as well as 12 lay
people—were murdered, presumably by Islamic extremists. A monk from India has
been missing since then.
In an interview with
international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Camillo
Ballin, who is responsible for the northern part of the region, said: “No one
has lifted a finger. It doesn’t interest anyone when it is Christianity that is
under attack.”
“The same thing
happened to Jesus. They all abandoned Him. And this is what is now happening to
the Church.”
The prelate, a Comboni
Missionary who heads the Bahrain-based Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia,
stressed that a “normal” Muslim could not approve of this kind of horrific
violence.
The Italian bishop
emphasized that the four nuns of the order founded by Mother Teresa were slain
out of hatred for the Christian faith. “Thus, they can quite unequivocally be
called martyrs,” he said.
Three other
Missionaries of Charity were murdered in Yemen in 1998.
Bishop Ballin added
that “the martyrdom of these nuns is a confirmation that Mother Teresa’s
congregation continues to be close to Jesus. Because anyone who draws near to
Jesus is always bound to His suffering and His death.”
Christians in the
region are called to bear witness to Jesus by suffering violence, he said,
adding: “These nuns gave bread to the
elderly and disabled Muslims living in their facility. In return, they received
gunfire.”
“But God is not
absent. He sees everything and knows what He is doing. These fanatics, who have
perpetrated this heinous crime, have basically declared to the entire world
that these nuns were very close to Jesus—so close that they shared in His end
and were killed themselves.”
However, the death of
these nuns was not the end, just as the death of Jesus was not His end, the
prelate continued, saying Jesus’ death on the cross “was followed by
resurrection.”
“The same can be said
for these nuns. Their sacrifice was not only made for their personal
resurrection, but also for their congregation and for those whom they served,
for Yemen and for their murderers,” declared Bishop Ballin.
The bishop believes
that only God “will be able to enter into the hearts of these inhuman fanatics.
I am convinced that the sacrifice these nuns made will also prove itself
valuable to these hearts of stone that continue to spread hate and malice.”
Yemen is currently the
scene of a bloody conflict in which both religious and tribal rivalries play a
role. According to information provided by the United Nations, the year-long
conflict has led to the internal displacement of more than 2.4 million people.
Since March 2015,
neighboring Saudi Arabia has been intervening on behalf of the Sunni
government, which is beleaguered by Huthi rebels, Shiites allied with Iran.
Jihadist groups are also active, primarily in the southern parts of the
country.
In December 2015,
jihadists blew up a Catholic church.
Editor’s Notes:
Directly under the
Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports
the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.
ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through
prayer, information and action.
Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul
II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity,” the organization is now at work
in over 145 countries throughout the world.
The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including
providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church
buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since
the initiative’s launch in 1979, 43 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed
worldwide.
