Maybe it was because Pat O’Brien as the WWI military chaplain in The Fighting 69th was still fresh in my mind, but this image of a present-day military chaplain celebrating mass in a shell-shocked ancient monastery near Mosul, Iraq caught my eye. I find the picture fascinating and oddly enticing, and the details outlined in the article more fascinating still.
From the article:
“We stand in a long line of people who bequeathed the faith to us,” said Maj. Jeffrey Whorton, a Roman Catholic chaplain, presiding over Mass in the monastery the other day, attended by three camouflaged soldiers, their rifles leaning in a corner.
In 1743, a Persian king swept through the area and ordered the monks to convert to Islam. They chose instead to die. In a violent place where Christians are still targets, most recently in bombings this week that struck two churches in Mosul, St. Elijah’s history resonates.
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