London, 08 September, 2023 / 11:40 am (ACI Africa).
On the eve of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a leading advocate for the persecuted Church said that awareness of religious persecution in the Western world is growing, thanks to the emergence of four new shrines dedicated to persecuted Christians in the last five years.
In an email interview with CNA on Sept. 7, Father Benedict Kiely, who founded Nasarean.org and is the force behind the shrines that all depict Mary, Mother of Persecuted Christians, said the fruits of the shrines are “manifold.”
“To have four shrines now, in three different countries [with] a focus on prayer for the persecuted in countries like Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, people are deeply moved that the shrines exist and people are praying for them,” he said. “It is educating people in the West that persecution exists and prayer is essential.”
The world’s first shrine to persecuted Christians was dedicated at St. Michael’s Church in New York City in 2018. It features an icon depicting the Blessed Mother dressed as a traditional Iraqi bride — Our Lady of Aradin (Eden) — which was created by an Iraqi Christian named Mouthana Butres, an iconographer and refugee who fled the Islamic State.
The second shrine was dedicated at the Ordinariate Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Gregory, in London, a year ago today, featuring an icon of Our Lady with the words “Mother of the Persecuted” written in Aramaic. The icon was painted by Sister Souraya, a Syrian nun of the Basilian order.
Cardinal Anders Arborelius joined Father Benedict Kiely and the parish priest of the Stockholm Church-Holy Martyrs Syriac Catholic Church in Kista, Northern Stockholm, Sweden, July 22, 2023. Photo courtesy of Father Benedict Kiely
Cardinal Anders Arborelius is joined by other prelates for the dedication of the Marian shrine for persecuted Christians at the Stockholm Church-Holy Martyrs Syriac Catholic Church in Stockholm, Sweden, July 22, 2023. Photo courtesy of Father Benedict Kiely
