Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Beirut (Agenzia Fides) - Syriac Catholic Bishop Flavianus Michael Melki, martyred during the "Assyrian Genocide", will be beatified on the evening of Saturday, August 29, during a solemn liturgy to be held at the Patriarchal convent of Our Lady of Deliverance in Harissa (Lebanon), which will be attended by numerous Patriarchs and heads of Christian churches of the East from Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. The beatification ceremony will be presided by Syrian Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Youssef III. The decree of beatification will be read at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy by Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
Flavianus Michael Melki was killed in hatred of the faith on August 29 one hundred years ago in Djézireh, now Turkey, during the massacres perpetrated against the Armenians and members of other Christian communities at the instigation of the Young Turks.
"A blessed of our church has not been proclaimed for a long time" refers to Agenzia Fides Syrian Catholic priest Nizar Semaan "and Bishop Melki will be the first of the martyrs of the Syrian Catholics of that Genocide to be raised to the honor of altars. But his beatification is a gift for all Christians of the East. In these times of new trials" adds Father Nizar "his figure shows us the luminous faith with which he lived the terrible persecution one hundred years ago, and he can give hope and courage to all the baptized. We pray that through his intercession all are helped to profess faith in Christ in the countries in the Middle East, and also pray so that political and military leaders take paths that lead to peace".
Melki was born in 1858 in Kalaat Mara, a village in the east of Merdin. He was ordained bishop of Gazarta in 1913, lived in extreme poverty and had also sold his vestments to help the poor. In the summer of 1915 he was arrested by the Ottoman authorities on August 28, along with the Chaldean bishop. According to eyewitness reported by Muslim sources, the two bishops were killed after refusing to renounce their faith and convert to Islam. Michael Melki was tortured to death and then decapitated. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 25/08/2015)
