Tom Westcott
Founded on the principles of charity, unity, and fraternity, the Knights of Columbus was established in 1882 by Father Michael J. McGivney, the 29-year-old assistant pastor of St. Mary's Church in New Haven, Connecticut. Blessed Michael McGivney became the first American parish priest to be beatified in October 2020. Begun as a fraternal lay organization to aid the families of Catholic immigrants who died or were injured in mills and factories, the Knights now bring financial aid and assistance to those on the margins all over the world. Their army of volunteers provides millions of hours of service yearly in support of charitable causes. Since 2014, the organization's Christian Relief Fund has committed more than $19 million to aid persecuted Christians and others in Iraq, Syria, and the surrounding region. The article below describes one of the Knights’ key initiatives in Iraq.
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Christians in northern Iraq, uprooted from their homes by Islamic State (IS) militants five years ago, the opening of McGivney House in Erbil offers a promise of a new beginning. “I’m so happy here,” said Nahrain Samir Shamoun, bustling around her little kitchen in preparation for Christmas last December [2019]. “What I love most is the feeling of finally being settled.” Just a month earlier, Nahrain and husband Rami Nourir, both 37, were living in cramped conditions with Rami’s extended family—with no savings, precious little income, and no prospect of living independently. Nahrain’s family had lost almost everything when the Islamic State group seized control of the Nineveh Plains region in 2014. They were forced to flee from their home in Bartella, an Assyrian town where Christians have lived since the second century. In November [2019], Nahrain and Rami were among the first families to move into McGivney House, the 140-unit apartment building constructed by the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil with assistance from the Knights of Columbus. As the building neared completion last March, [Knights of Columbus] Supreme Knight Carl Anderson made a visit, accompanied by Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil. The Kurdish Regional Government also assisted the project by upgrading the power grid in the Ankawa district to accommodate the facility.
for hundreds of displaced
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McGivney House is now providing 120 high-quality, rent-free apartments to young, impoverished families for a period of five years each. By February [2020], the 20-unit Pope Francis Venerable Care Home on the first floor will welcome 40 elderly residents together with an on-site medical team. The opening of McGivney House is the latest step in the Knights’ support for persecuted Christians in Iraq since 2014, which Archbishop Warda has called “historic work.” Through its Christian Refugee Relief Fund, which has contributed more than $25 million in humanitarian assistance in the region, the Knights of Columbus has helped the archdiocese address pressing needs, including emergency food distribution, medical care, and education. Since the defeat of the Islamic State group in the Nineveh Plains region in May 2017, the order has facilitated reconstruction efforts there, including $2 million to help displaced residents return to and rebuild the ancient town of Karamles. “Whenever the Knights saw a need, they responded immediately,” Archbishop Warda said. “This is really charity with a merciful face.” The opening of McGivney House, the archbishop said, has helped the archdiocese with one of its greatest responsibilities: to give back dignity to the most vulnerable displaced Christians—an almost impossible task back in 2014 when Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, unexpectedly received tens of thousands of people within 24 hours.
Claire Thomas photo credit:
A Promise of a New Beginning
