A new shrine in London dedicated to Mary, Mother of Persecuted Christians

Fr. Benedict Kiely, the English priest behind the project, believes it will be Europe’s first shrine dedicated to prayer for believers currently suffering for their Christian faith.

“This is the first shrine in Europe specifically dedicated to prayer for the active persecution of Christians now all over the world. It’s certainly the first shrine in Europe dedicated to Mary, Mother of Persecuted Christians.”

The shrine was dedicated at 6:30 p.m. local time on Sept. 8 at the Ordinariate Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Gregory, in London’s gritty, bohemian Soho district.

The shrine’s genesis dates back to 2014. That was when Fr. Kiely - who wears distinctive brightly colored trouser suspenders and round spectacles - received what he describes as his “call within a call.”

“In August 2014, I was a parish priest in Stowe, Vermont, and I heard that for the first time in basically 2,000 years, there was no Mass being said in Mosul. Mosul is Nineveh, where Jonah’s tomb was before ISIS blew it up. I just remember thinking, ‘How can we help? How can we assist?’”

“From that point, I started to get more and more involved. I went to Iraq for the first time in May 2015 and I’ve been eight times now, and to Syria and Lebanon. I just felt that call growing to dedicate my whole priesthood to aid and advocacy for the persecuted.”

In 2016, Fr. Kiely founded the charity Nasarean.org. It helps persecuted Middle Eastern Christians remain in their home countries through “mini micro-financing” that enables them to set up small businesses.

“I specifically focus at the moment on the Middle East in terms of aid but the advocacy is for the whole world,” said the priest, who is incardinated in England’s Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

“Wherever Christians are being persecuted, I’m trying to advocate for them and raise awareness and prayer.”

In 2017, Kiely's work led to the opening of what he contends is the world’s first shrine specifically dedicated to prayer for the persecuted Church, at St. Michael’s Church in New York City.

At the center of the London shrine will be an icon of the Virgin Mary with the words “Mother of the Persecuted” written in Aramaic, believed to be the language of Jesus.

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Fr. Kiely envisages the London shrine becoming a magnet for Christians of all backgrounds.

“Being at the ordinariate church, which is open every day in central London, it’s for everyone - people of the diaspora of whatever country. Nigerian Christians can come and pray. Chinese, Indians, Burmese, Iraqis, Syrians, Indians...”

The priest hopes the shrine will also raise awareness of anti-Christian persecution, which he thinks is vastly underreported. According to the advocacy group Open Doors USA, more than 360 million Christians worldwide face high levels of persecution and discrimination, and 5,898 were killed for their faith in the past year alone.

“Many Catholics just aren’t aware of the intensity of worldwide persecution. So this is part of that process of trying to raise awareness, but having the spiritual at the very center,” said Fr. Kiely.

Fr. Kiely urged bishops who would like a similar shrine in their dioceses to contact him.

Source : https://www.pillarcatholic.com