In the Footsteps of the Nazarene: Fr. Behnam Benoka
- Published in In the Footsteps of the Nazarene
This week's program of the series, "In the Footsteps of the Nazarene," offers the impressive testimony of Fr. Behnam Benoka, a young iraqi priest who was obliged to flee, together with the Christian community, from Mosul to Kurdistan before the Islamic State's invasion.
Fr. Benoka begins his exposition with a brief review of Iraq's religious history to later pass on to the chronicle of events that obliged the Christians to leave their houses in search of refuge and help, a trip full of dangers and shortcomings which many did not survive.
These Christians' present situation regarding the future remains uncertain. Thanks to the generosity of many, they receive channeled aid through institutions such as "Aid to the Church in Need," but their living conditions remain very grievous.
Nonetheless, Fr. Benoka highlights how the Christians, in the midst of all of these sufferings and privations, live the Faith intensely, sustained by prayer and the sacramental life, which constitute for them an absolute priority, beyond material necessities and human securities.