Father Robert Jarjis is the parish priest of the Assumption Church, located in the Al Mansour district in Baghdad. He is working at the Nunciature and he is a teacher of the Chaldean seminary.


Since 2014, FPSC supports Christian families in Iraq who have been forced to abandon everything.   They are currently living as refugees in the capital of Iraq after being subjected to persecution by Daesh (Campaign: “Iraq: a shout of encouragement: aid to refugees families at the Virgin Mary camp in Baghdad)

 

FPSC: What is your experience at Virgin Mary camp in Bagdad?

 

FATHER ROBERT : I am the president of the Catholic Commission of Higher education.

 

We have organized courses where we addressed the issue of Pain, both for women and high school students, aiming to mitigate the shock after the suffering of these last years.

Afterwards, during the Lent period, we also organized workshops devoted to Hope, and how to get over this situation.

 

In these two meetings we had really nice experiences:  a woman of the camp told us: “When I was at home, I had no access to the internet and I was somehow isolated. Now in this camp, I feel really close to the other people.  I start keeping in contact with others, this is a good point, and I never had this type of communication with others when I was in my village. Now because we live more closely inside the camp we keep in a deeper contact, we should do it! I feel very happy with that.”

 

Another woman said that she was really upset as she couldn’t have babies after 7 years visiting doctors without any result. At the camp she started asking caravan by caravan for prayers, and as a result, after one year, she had a baby and it was a really nice experience for all of them, a kind of light inside the camp.

 

FPSC: What is the situation of these families? Are they willing to move to another country or to settle down and starting to find jobs?

 

FATHER ROBERT:  Now the situation is better.  First of all I think that they do not expect a really good future for them but they live their normal life. Most of them look for a job but it is not easy to find it because there is a big crisis here. This country faced really big troubles and owed money from many other countries so that we got lots of problems.

 

They manage to run private small businesses inside the camp such as little shops. They make bread.

 

We (with Father Luis and the Sisters) prepare everything at the schools in the camp for them, for the babies.

 

FPSC: Where are the schools located?

 

FATHER ROBERT: Kids go to normal schools, not inside the camp. But in the commission we had the need to create a kindergarten inside the camp, that’s because most of the normal kindergartens outside have got a special religious direction. We also provide these facilities for free because outside the camp you have to pay. The schools are normally State public schools.

 

 

Inside the camp we have got two houses for universities students; one for women and another for men, and we have a big church (Syrian Catholic Church).

 

On regards my parish the problem is that it covers a huge territory, 60 square kilometers and that’s so much …We have another church (Chaldean church) but now nobody can go there because it is located in a very dangerous area and people were kidnapped there.

 

The issue of Hope is really key.

 

I think that they will find it somehow and in the end they will go back home.

 

Some of them have this type of hope but we still have a really huge problem in the future because in these villages they left the neighbors stole everything from them, they occupied their houses. Houses are occupied so how can they live there? The big problem will come when they go back.

 

I’m sure that it will be a big challenge to take again our villages. How will they live after ISIS?

 

FPSC: What is the situation in these villages?

 

FATHER ROBERT: We don’t know exactly because it’s not clear from the media because we only know through the media and there is a lack of good information. What we know is through them.

 

FPSC: Tell us more accurately  the situation of Christians in Baghdad.

 

FATHER ROBERT:  I want to say something before explaining this situation. Since 2013 we have a new patriarch and we have got a new vision of all our churches. He made so many things and the number of churches nowadays is acceptable. Thanks to him we have some many donors who provide us with food and we are ready to take the next steps, but the challenge is bigger for all the Christians in general.

 

 

What happened last week in Al Karrada makes a question for all of them: should I stay or should I go? Most of the victims were young people because it is a leisure centre, youngsters go there for fun, so when we lose all of these people just in a second, the big question arrives for Christians and for all.  After the attack people came to me saying Father the situation is very critical, the next Friday we should stop catechesis because it is very dangerous.

 

Many streets have been locked, we don’t know what will happen, these events make a bad vision for all and also for Christians.

 

The role of the Church is very important in Baghdad; it works very hard in this city.  We go on with catechism and supporting pilgrims and many other things, but there is a drama behind. But we have hope because without hope we cannot do anything. With hope we go ahead despite of what we live inside.

 

I told you that my church covers 60 square kilometers and the fellows come from far places to attend the mass. Catechists come from very far places to go to the catechism. No matter what kind of problems we get at the church they come.

 

Next month I guess we have one week meeting in my church. We expect high participation from many churches of Baghdad and from very far places. Without hope they couldn’t do that.  The person without hope couldn’t see a piece of light in the black wall; they would just stay for nothing so I think that in Bagdad, we have got a really big hope.

 

FPSC: How FPSC collaborates with your parish?

 

FATHER ROBERT: The foundation is supporting us from the first time they contacted me.

 

We use this help to fulfill many sorts of needs in my church, which is the unique Chaldean Catholic Church in my zone. 

 

We have problems especially with how can we bring our babies, our students, from these far places to the church to their daily catechism, also sometimes for attending the masses. The foundation is helping us supporting special programs to provide transportation to these people.

 

Secondly the foundation is helping us with other programs, for instance supporting the organization or the festival of my church, last year.

 

We have a special day for elementary, middle and higher school students in the end of August. With the support of FPSC, we buy school material for the coming academic course for each of them.

 

Everything is expensive. This is very important because the Christian Community is not very rich. Everyone with money never stays and they move to other countries, but the ones that do not have it have to remain in Baghdad.

 

Therefore the community stays in Baghdad for two reasons, the first one because we have got a big hope for the future and the second one, because we cannot leave.