Iraqi monk takes pride in persecution and forgives his oppressors

An Iraqi monk whose family suffered under the hands of Islamic militants has chosen to forgive his oppressors. He now stays in his monastery to help those who are fleeing from persecution and heavy fighting.

Father Yousif, the Deputy Bishop of St. Matthew's monastery located 40 kilometers east of Mosul, encourages his family and others to leave Iraq and seek a better future elsewhere. But despite his bad experience in the city, he has chosen to remain. The monastery is one of the many places that offers shelter to those who have been displaced from their homes.

"I'm a monk, like a soldier I don't think about [myself]," he told World Watch Monitor.

Yousif's brother, Ragheed Fahmy Ibrahim, 37, was killed when his family was still living in Mosul. Ibrahim was an electrical engineer who also served as a deacon at a church. He was shot on his birthday on May 11, 2006.

Yousif believes that the militants monitored the movements of his brother and chose a specific day to kill him.

"They knew everything. They chose a Thursday evening, as they knew no doctors would be staying at hospitals late before a weekend in Mosul. They made sure he would die," he explained.

The monk assisted Ragheed's wife and children to flee from Mosul but his other family members chose to stay. Things changed months later when his other brother was threatened by a man who worked as an apprentice in his electric appliance business.

The apprentice named Mohamed revealed that Yousif's younger brother has been placed on a hit list and extremists were planning to kill him the next day. His family decided to flee to nearby Kurdistan after learning about the threat.

Yousif said it was hard for Christians to live in Mosul even before ISIS occupied the city. He said Christians could not work with the government because they did not associate themselves with any political power that came after Saddam.

The monk considers his brother Ragheed as a hero who was killed in Jesus' name. "Persecution is a pride for us," said Yousif.

He said that he has forgiven his persecutors and Ragheed's wife has forgiven them as well.

"You know, there is a chance they might know God someday," he said. "I forgave them. Believe me, I can tell you even Ragheed's wife now forgave those who killed her husband," he added.

According to Open Doors, the border areas between the Kurdish region and Arab Iraq are the most dangerous places in Iraq. Christians are caught in a battle for an autonomous Kurdish region. At the same time, they are under threat from religious cleansing carried out by Islamic extremists.