Scottish Catholic Observer

How would you feel if you woke up in a city where you could be killed for your Faith? This is what happened to Sarmad Ozan. The young Iraqi who features in our front page story this week faced trauma no one should have to endure when the Islamic State swept into his home city of Mosul.

Thank God, he escaped and was able to tell his remarkable tale to over a thousand young Catholics at the Aid to the Church in Need Youth Rally in Carfin last week.

It is a story we all need to hear. The persecution of Christians in the Middle East is a ongoing blight on the human race.

Over the past decade it has worsened, week by week hour by hour, until the hopes of Christianity surviving in the region of Christ hang by a thread.

The work of charities like Aid to the Church in Need is vital. They save lives. Men, women and children who would be dead are alive thanks to them, and their generous supporters. Pope Francis’ recent endorsement of their year of Mercy campaign is a sign of just how important their work is. Crucially they shine a light on a suffering many would rather ignore.

The tragic murder of Jo Cox appalled all of Britain last week and rightly. It was a senseless act of hatred. The violent death of the mother of two shocked because it was unusual. She was the first MP to be killed for 26 years. We should give thanks to God that we live in a country where violence like that is so rare.

Many are not so fortunate. Across the Middle East, millions live with such terrors every day of their lives. We, the lucky ones, who live lives of relative peace and tranquillity, betray them when we look away. It’s all too easy to focus on our own troubles, to be consumed by our own woes.