Douglas Al-Bazi

{{Infobox person

| name = Douglas Al-Bazi

| birth_name = Douglas Joseph Shimshon Al-Bazi

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1972}}

| birth_place = Baghdad, Iraq

| occupation = Priest

| image = Rueda de prensa -WeAreN2016 Nueva York - 26683789446 (cropped).jpg

}}

Douglas Joseph Shimshon Al-Bazi (or Douglas Yousef Al Bazi, born 1972 in Baghdad) is a Chaldean Catholic Church parish priest in Auckland, New Zealand, as the leader of the Chaldean Catholic congregation there. He formerly served in Baghdad, Iraq.

Baghdad parish priest

Al-Bazi was vicar of the St. Elia (alt: Elias) Catholic Church, and the adjacent St. Elia Catholic School in the "working class" New Baghdad neighborhood of Baghdad.{{cite news|title=Kidnappers release two Chaldean Catholic priests in Iraq|url=http://www.catholicreview.org/article/faith/parish-news/kidnappers-release-two-chaldean-catholic-priests-in-iraq|accessdate=1 September 2015|publisher=The Catholic Review|date=11 December 2006|archive-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923200858/http://www.catholicreview.org/article/faith/parish-news/kidnappers-release-two-chaldean-catholic-priests-in-iraq|url-status=dead}} By 2010, the school had an 82 percent Muslim enrollment, as a result of the exodus of Christians from Iraq.{{cite news|last1=Arraf|first1=Jane|title=How an Iraqi Christian school became 82 percent Muslim|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/1109/How-an-Iraqi-Christian-school-became-82-percent-Muslim|accessdate=1 September 2015|website=The Christian Science Monitor|date=9 November 2010}} In his autobiography, Norman Kember relates that Al-Bazi described his church as having been bombed ineffectively by unidentified anti-Christian elements and as a church where members of several denominations worshiped together.{{cite book|last1=Kember|first1=Norman|title=Hostage in Iraq|date=2010|publisher=Andrews UK Limited|isbn=978-0232528282}} According to Zenit News Agency the church was attacked twice in the year before Father Douglas was kidnapped; the Father was shot during one of the attacks.

Father Douglas fled from Baghdad, his hometown, to Erbil in 2013.{{cite news|last1=MacDiarmid|first1=Campbell|title=At Easter services, Iraqi Christians under threat from ISIS consider leaving Middle East|url=http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/israel-middle-east/at-easter-services-iraqi-christians-under-threat-from-isis-consider-leaving-middle-east|accessdate=3 September 2015|publisher=National Post|date=5 April 2015}}

Kidnapping

In November 2006, Father Douglas was kidnapped by ISI militants.{{cite news|last1=Cantilero|first1=Monica|title=Priest cut to pieces by ISIS militants as Mideast Christian clerics become targets|url=http://www.christiantoday.com/article/priest.cut.to.pieces.by.isis.militants.as.mideast.christian.clerics.become.targets/61847.htm|accessdate=2 September 2015|publisher=Christianity Today|date=13 August 2015}} He was tortured and released nine days later. He suffered multiple injuries including two broken vertebrae from his spinal cord, and his face and knees were smashed using a hammer. An AK-47 bullet still remains in his leg. He was released after the Chaldean Catholic Church paid $170,000 in ransom for the release of al-Bazi and Father Samy Al Raiys by their kidnappers.{{cite news|title=Kidnapped priest released in Baghdad|url=http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Kidnapped-priest-released-in-Baghdad-7879.html|accessdate=1 September 2015|publisher=Asia News|date=29 November 2006}}

Refugee camp priest

Al-Bazi is known for sheltering hundreds of war refugees who escaped from the ISIL conquest expansion in August 2014 to Mar Elia Church in Erbil, Iraq where he is the parish priest, and founder and manager of a refugee camp.{{cite news|title=Douglas Al-Bazi|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02p1h12|accessdate=1 September 2015|publisher=BBC World Service|date=21 April 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Grzybowski|first1=Laurent|date=23 December 2013|title=Noël d'espoir avec les enfants d'Irak|publisher=La Vie|url=http://www.lavie.fr/medias/videos/noel-d-espoir-avec-les-enfants-d-irak-23-12-2014-58937_74.php|accessdate=4 September 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Rubin|first1=Trudy|title=An Iraqi Christian oasis away from ISIS|url=http://articles.philly.com/2015-05-25/news/62588955_1_iraqi-christian-syrian-refugees-christian-suburb|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916221915/http://articles.philly.com/2015-05-25/news/62588955_1_iraqi-christian-syrian-refugees-christian-suburb|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 16, 2015|accessdate=3 September 2015|website=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=25 May 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Maksan|first1=Oliver|title=Among Christian refugees in Kurdistan, 'no one is angry at God'|url=http://www.churchinneed.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8237&news_iv_ctrl=1461|accessdate=4 September 2015|publisher=Aid to the Church in Need|date=6 January 2015}} Father Douglas built the refugee camp in part of the church property previously furnished with benches and used as a small garden,{{cite news|title=What will happen with the Christian refugees?|url=http://www.irbil.msz.gov.pl/en/news/what_will_happen_with_the_christian_refugees_|accessdate=4 September 2015|publisher=Consular Agency of the Republic of Poland in Erbil}} now it is a refuge for Christians fleeing persecution in ISIL-dominated regions of Iraq. Many of the refugees are from Qaraqosh. The camp, which is located in the predominantly Assyrian neighborhood of Ankawa in Erbil, boasts prefabricated housing units, a library, and an emphasis on education.{{cite news|last1=Fache|first1=Wilson|title=Erbil refugee camp prioritizes education|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/06/iraq-displaced-camps-kurdistan-education.html#|accessdate=1 September 2015|publisher=Al-Monitor|date=22 June 2015}} Funding has come predominantly from Canada.{{cite news|last1=Doran|first1=Andrew|title=A Skeptic and a Priest among Displaced Christians in Iraq|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421788/displaced-christians-erbil-iraq-kurdistan|accessdate=1 September 2015|publisher=National Review|date=30 July 2015}} By November 2014, Mar Elia, which hosts about 700 refugees, was one of six churches in Erbil sheltering about 3,000 Christian families.{{cite news|last1=Williams|first1=Sally|title=Inside the refugee camps of northern Iraq|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11260461/Exclusive-Inside-the-refugee-camps-of-northern-Iraq.html|accessdate=3 September 2015|publisher=The Telegraph|date=29 November 2014}}

Al-Bazi described the ethnic cleansings being carried out by ISIL in 2015 as "genocide".{{cite news|last1=Matzuzzi|first1=di Matteo|title=Il vescovo di Erbil: "E' un genocidio, non si aspettino vent'anni per dirlo"|url=http://www.ilfoglio.it/chiesa/2015/08/27/il-vescovo-di-erbil-e-un-genocidio-non-si-aspettino-ventanni-per-dirlo___1-vr-132160-rubriche_c307.htm|accessdate=1 September 2015|publisher=Il Foglio|date=27 August 2015|archive-date=31 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150831160956/http://www.ilfoglio.it/chiesa/2015/08/27/il-vescovo-di-erbil-e-un-genocidio-non-si-aspettino-ventanni-per-dirlo___1-vr-132160-rubriche_c307.htm|url-status=dead}}

In September 2015, the Knights of Columbus released for national broadcast in the U.S. a television commercial featuring Father Douglas in the hope of encouraging more Americans to donate money for the relief of Christian refugees. In the commercial, al Bazi asks viewers to "pray for my people, help my people, and save my people" saying that, "genocide is the easy word for what is happening to my people."{{cite news|title=Knights of Columbus Sending One Month of Food to Erbil Refugees|url=http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=174586|accessdate=11 September 2015|agency=Catholic News Agency|publisher=The Pilot|date=9 September 2015}}

Anti-Christian genocide in the Middle East

Father Al-Bazi has spoken out against the genocide of Christians by ISIL.{{cite news|last1=Simov|first1=Stoyan|title=Iraqi Priest Who Terrorists Smashed Face With Hammer: US Must Recognize Christian Genocide|url=http://www.christianpost.com/news/iraqi-priest-isis-terrorists-smashed-face-hammer-us-must-recognize-christian-genocide-159180/|accessdate=16 September 2016|publisher=Christian Post|date=15 March 2016}}

New Zealand

In 2016 Fr. Al-Bazi moved to New Zealand where he became parish priest at St. Addai Chaldean Catholic Church, in Papatoetoe. He continues his political activism on behalf of Christians in the Middle East.{{cite news|last1=Orejana|first1=Rowena|title=Tortured Iraqi priest grieves for his flock|url=https://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/2016/09/29/tortured-iraqi-priest-grieves-flock/|accessdate=15 May 2017|publisher=New Zealand Catholic|date=26 September 2016}}