Tortured to death, Iraqi Christian hailed as martyr
September 02, 2014
A Christian man has died under torture in northern Iraq after refusing to renounce his faith, the AsiaNews service reports.
Salem Matti Kourki, a resident of the town of Bartala, in the Nineveh Plains, had successfully hidden from capture by the Islamic State for three weeks. But when he ventured out from his home searching for food, he was arrested, beaten, and tortured because he would not embrace Islam. When he was finally killed by the beating, his body was left in the street.
The Chaldean Catholic patriarchate of Baghdad saluted Kourki as “another martyr, a victim of extremist folly.”
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Posted by: garedawg -
Sep. 03, 2014 11:11 AM ET USA
Holy Martyr Salem Matti Kourki, pray for us!
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Posted by: chady -
Sep. 03, 2014 7:54 AM ET USA
How can we respond to the violence against our Christian brother and sisters and other minorities in Iraq and Syria? We have no material weapons or physical force. Maybe we need 2 start with ourselves? Divine Office Responsory 4 2 day 'You shall not contaminate yourselves; you shall make yourselves holy..because I am holy. Therefore, honour God in your body.' God will listen more attentively to our prayer pleas 4 these souls if we renounce all forms of 'violence'within our own selves first......
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Posted by: 1Jn416 -
Sep. 02, 2014 1:58 PM ET USA
Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus. Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine, et benedic hereditati tuae. The noble army of Martyrs praise You. O Lord, save your people , and bless your heritage.
