A Syriac monastery in southern Turkey has reopened its doors to believers about 100 years after it was seized by the Turkish army and transformed into a military hospital before becoming a prison and warehouse.
Deacon Ebrahim Lallo, a Syriac Catholic Deacon from the town of Bartella, Iraq, painted the icon "Mary, Mother of Persecuted Christians," which will be in the shrine in Clinton, Massachusetts. / Photo credit: Father Benedict KielyBoston, Mass., Oct 20, 2022 / 12:00 pm (CNA).More people need to pray for the millions of Christians who are being persecuted because of their faith.That s the idea behind the new Shrine of Mary, Mother of Persecuted Christians opening in Clinton, Massachusetts, on Friday.The shrine, which will be the third of its kind in the world, is the brainchild of Father Benedict Kiely, who in 2016 founded Nasarean.org, a nonprofit organization and ministry that advocates for persecuted Christians with a focus on the Middle East.The installation at St. John the Guardian of Our Lady Parish in the Diocese of Worcester will be followed by the world premiere of the "Mass for Persecuted Christians," a sung Mass setting written by Catholic composer Paul Jer