On the night of August 6, 2014, Daesch (ISIS) swept across the Nineveh Plain of northern Iraq causing hundreds of thousands to flee to relative safety in the Kurdish area. Our own Dominican Family was included in this exodus. Since then they have not only had to deal with the trauma of this unfolding event, but also have come to the physical and spiritual aid of the many internally displaced persons with whom they live. The Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) and other agencies have witnessed the many ways our Dominican sisters and brother assist those who would otherwise lose hope.
To remember that event in solidarity with our family in Iraq, we share this novena. The global Dominican Family will pray this together July 29-August 6. Please pray with us and share this with your friends and family. Versions in Spanish, French and Italian are available below.
Here you can read a letter of solidarity recently sent by the Iraq Coordinating Committee to the Dominicans in Baghdad. The July 3, 2016 bombing there decimated a shopping district in a neighborhood that includes Dominican-sponsored hospitals, a girls’ high school, and the homes of the Dominican Sisters and Friars as well as a small community of the Missionaries of Charity. As many as 300 people were killed and more than 200 were injured. None of the Dominicans or Mother Theresa’s sisters were among the dead or injured.
