Douglas Al-Bazi

Douglas Joseph Shimshon Al-Bazi (or Doglas Yousef Al Bazi, born 1972 in Baghdad) is a Chaldean Catholic Church parish priest in Auckland, New Zealand, as the leader of the Chaldean Catholic congregation there. He formerly served in Baghdad, Iraq.

Douglas Al-Bazi
Born
Douglas Joseph Shimshon Al-Bazi

1972 (age 50–51)
Baghdad, Iraq
OccupationPriest

Baghdad parish priest

Al-Bazi was vicar of the St. Elia (alt: Elias) Catholic Church, and the adjacent St. Elia Catholic School in the "working class" New Baghdad neighborhood of Baghdad.[1][2] By 2010, the school had an 82 percent Muslim enrollment, as a result of the exodus of Christians from Iraq.[1] In his autobiography, Norman Kember relates that Al-Bazi described his church as having been bombed ineffectively by unidentified anti-Christian elements and as a church where members of several denominations worshiped together.[3] According to Zenit News Agency the church was attacked twice in the year before Father Douglas was kidnapped; the Father was shot during one of the attacks.

Father Douglas fled from Baghdad, his hometown, to Erbil in 2013.[4]

2006 kidnapping

In November 2006 Father Douglas was kidnapped by an Islamist group.[5] He was tortured and released nine days later. He suffered multiple injuries including two broken vertebrae from his spinal cord, and his face and knees were smashed using a hammer.[6][1][7][5] An Ak-47 bullet still remains in his leg. He was released after the Chaldean Catholic Church paid $170,000 in ransom for the release of al-Bazi and Father Samy Al Raiys by their kidnappers.[6][2][8]

Refugee camp priest

Al-Bazi is known for sheltering hundreds of Christian war refugees who escaped from the ISIL conquest expansion in August 2014 to Mar Elia Church in Erbil, Iraq where he is the parish priest, and founder and manager of a refugee camp.[6][9][10][11] Father Douglas built the refugee camp in part of the church property previously furnished with benches and used as a small garden,[12] now it is a refuge for Christians fleeing persecution in ISIL-dominated regions of Iraq. Many of the refugees are from Qaraqosh.[4] The camp, which is located in the predominantly Christian Ankawa neighborhood of Erbil, boasts prefabricated housing units, a library, and an emphasis on education.[10][13] Funding has come predominantly from Canada.[7] By November 2014, Mar Elia, which hosts about 700 refugees, was one of six churches in Erbil sheltering about 3,000 Christian families.[14]

Al-Bazi described the ethnic cleansings being carried out by ISIL in 2015 as "genocide".[15]

In September 2015, the Knights of Columbus released for national broadcast in the U.S. a television commercial featuring Father Douglas in the hope of encouraging more Americans to donate money for the relief of Christian refugees. In the commercial, al Bazi asks viewers to "pray for my people, help my people, and save my people" saying that, "genocide is the easy word for what is happening to my people."[16]

Anti-Christian genocide in the Middle East

Father Al-Bazi has spoken out against the genocide of Christians by ISIL.[17]

New Zealand

In 2016 Fr. Al-Bazi moved to New Zealand where he became parish priest at St. Addai Chaldean Catholic Church, in Papatoetoe. He continues his political activism on behalf of Christians in the Middle East.[18]

See also

References
  1. Arraf, Jane (9 November 2010). "How an Iraqi Christian school became 82 percent Muslim". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  2. "Kidnappers release two Chaldean Catholic priests in Iraq". The Catholic Review. 11 December 2006. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  3. Kember, Norman (2010). Hostage in Iraq. Andrews UK Limited. ISBN 978-0232528282.
  4. MacDiarmid, Campbell (5 April 2015). "At Easter services, Iraqi Christians under threat from ISIS consider leaving Middle East". National Post. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  5. Cantilero, Monica (13 August 2015). "Priest cut to pieces by ISIS militants as Mideast Christian clerics become targets". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  6. "Douglas Al-Bazi". BBC World Service. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  7. Doran, Andrew (30 July 2015). "A Skeptic and a Priest among Displaced Christians in Iraq". National Review. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  8. "Kidnapped priest released in Baghdad". Asia News. 29 November 2006. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  9. Grzybowski, Laurent (23 December 2013). "Noël d'espoir avec les enfants d'Irak". La Vie. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  10. Rubin, Trudy (25 May 2015). "An Iraqi Christian oasis away from ISIS". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  11. Maksan, Oliver (6 January 2015). "Among Christian refugees in Kurdistan, 'no one is angry at God'". Aid to the Church in Need. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  12. "What will happen with the Christian refugees?". Consular Agency of the Republic of Poland in Erbil. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  13. Fache, Wilson (22 June 2015). "Erbil refugee camp prioritizes education". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  14. Williams, Sally (29 November 2014). "Inside the refugee camps of northern Iraq". The Telegraph. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  15. Matzuzzi, di Matteo (27 August 2015). "Il vescovo di Erbil: "E' un genocidio, non si aspettino vent'anni per dirlo"". Il Foglio. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  16. "Knights of Columbus Sending One Month of Food to Erbil Refugees". The Pilot. Catholic News Agency. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  17. Simov, Stoyan (15 March 2016). "Iraqi Priest Who Terrorists Smashed Face With Hammer: US Must Recognize Christian Genocide". Christian Post. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  18. Orejana, Rowena (26 September 2016). "Tortured Iraqi priest grieves for his flock". New Zealand Catholic. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
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