In this episode of “In the Footsteps of the Nazarene,” we present the hopeful testimony of Sr. Maria of Guadalupe Rodrigo, Argentinian of the religious family the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE).
Sr. Guadalupe has been a missionary in the Middle East for nearly 20 years. During her time in the community of Aleppo, violent conflicts, which were especially anti-Christian, broke out in Syria. In this interview, she joyfully explains the change that the Christian community experienced due to this religious persecution; from more or less lukewarm Christians, they’ve awoken to the reality of their faith and the real possibility of martyrdom. Now, in the Western world, Sr. Guadalupe longs for the joy and passion for the Gospel, which is so alive in the persecuted Church.

Mireille Al Farah, a young Catholic of Syrian origin, tells us about the situation in her country. She can no longer return to Syria after having arrived in Spain as a student before the present conflict began. Mireille explains how the conflict came about and defines its various fronts with their tragic consequences. The supernatural vision of faith is what illuminates the Christians from the region in the face of the great sufferings they must confront.

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.

Wake up! is the cry that our persecuted brothers and sisters from the East, especially from Syria and Iraq, make to the West.
HM Television shows you the life of an authentic Christian faith, full of the cross, forgiveness, strength and hope; and, at the same time, a faith that is awake to the reality of persecution, not only in the East, but also gradually in the West.
Let us join forces to wake up a society that needs to open its eyes to a new and shocking witness of faith.
Don’t remain silent before the suffering of our brothers and sisters, and show that you too are a “Nazarene.”
You can find the complete interviews of those who intervene in this clip and many others in the series, “In the Footsteps of the Nazarene,” by HM Television.

"In the Footsteps of the Nazarene" presents the testimony of Fr. Douglas Bazi, a Catholic priest serving as the Pastor of St. Elijah Parish in Erbil, Iraq. This priest's devotion towards his people shines through in the account of his life as a priest in an increasingly Islamicized and anti-Christian country. He himself was abducted by a group of Muslim radicals who held him hostage and tortured him for 9 days. Hear his testimony and discover the profound faith which sends a wake-up call to Europe and other Western countries.

“In the Footsteps of the Nazarene,” features the testimony of Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda, shepherd of the Chaldean Catholic community of Erbil and Iraqi Kurdistan. This young bishop tells us about how his diocese has had to learn to provide a new kind of pastoral care for Iraqi refugees who have fled the terror of ISIS in their cities and sought an immediate refuge in their cathedral and their pastors. Archbishop Bashar Matti gives us a glimpse of the situation in the refugee camps and everyday life of our fellow Christians who live in the daily hope of returning to their homes and freely practicing their faith.