In the cultural and legal center of Brooklyn, atop of Brooklyn Borough Hall’s front steps, a little over a dozen lay Catholics accompanied by several priests stood unashamed showing their unity with their brothers and sisters in baptism suffering in the Middle East and in Africa.
“Despite our distance, we want to manifest our love,” said Cameroon native Father Willy Kingsley Ndi during the Knights of Columbus-sponsored event July 26.
Father Ndi said that for people amidst great suffering, knowing that there are people who care can be a powerful source of solace. Therefore, he said, one way for Catholics in the U.S. to support Christians who live with a very real possibility of martyrdom is to help spread awareness.
Spreading awareness was the reason behind the public show of unity, said Knight of Columbus Fred Trabulsi. Brooklyn Borough Hall served as a public venue to spread their message, he said, which they chose to express with their presence, prayers and silence.
He organized the event through the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Knights of Columbus in Sunset Park, based on an article he had seen in a December 2014 issue of The Tablet.
Father Michael Perry, the pastor of Our Lady of Refuge Church, Flatbush, stood on the same steps with his parishioners three years ago. “People should know that Christians are dying everyday for their faith in Jesus Christ,” he told The Tablet then.
Supporting Fellow Christians
Trabulsi said he wanted to continue to spread that message. Although Father Perry was unable to attend the event because he was out of the country, he helped the demonstrators by supplying the signs he used back then. The placards depict the Arabic letter “n.” It stands for Nazarene and it has been used as a tag by ISIS to terrorize Christians overseas.
“Bethlehem is like a maximum security prison,” is the take-away Father Thomas Vassalotti had from his pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
The pastor of Divine Mercy parish, Williamsburg, said he wanted to join in the show of unity in part because of his own experience in the Holy Land. He said Christian suffering there was far worse than he imagined, noting that local businesses dissuade tourists from patronizing Christian businesses.
“They really do depend on our support,” Father Vassalotti said. “Christians need to be better about supporting our fellow Christians.”
