My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

As the genocide of Christians by the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) militants continues, our government and several countries of the international community, including some nations in the Middle East, have begun to mobilize against the terrorists accused of indiscriminate killings, abductions and rapes. The Islamic State militants are also killing other religious minorities and even fellow Muslims whom they do not consider to be true Muslims.

Just who or what is the Islamic State? Starting as a splinter group from al-Qaida, the group first named itself as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) and it expanded in 2013 as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). The term "al-Sham" refers to a region stretching from southern Turkey through Syria to Egypt (also including Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan). The standard English term for this territory is "the Levant," so the militant group is sometimes also referred to as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The group's stated goal is to restore an Islamic state, or caliphate, in this entire area. In June this year ISIS announced the creation of a caliphate (Islamic State) that erases all state borders, making ISIS the self-declared leader of the world's estimated 1.5 billion Muslims. The group also announced a name change to the Islamic State (IS) or the State of the Islamic Caliphate (SIC). This claim of an Islamic Caliphate has been received with derision. The Economist magazine (July 12, 2014) noted: "The International Union of Muslim Scholars, a group of Sunni, lambasted SIC's declaration of a caliphate as illegitimate, destructive not only to the Sunni uprisings in Iraq and Syria but to Islam in general." Not even the Jordanian cleric released from prison last month and widely respected in jihadist circles, endorsed the caliphate project. He called on SIC's leaders and followers to "Reform yourselves, repent, stop killing fellow Muslims and distorting religion."

The violence done by these jihadist militants is disturbing to everyone, but it brings to the forefront the plight of Christians in the Middle East. Faced with persecution for their faith, scores of Christians have fled the region. This is true even in the Holy Land, the birthplace of Christianity.

If 1947, the year before the creation of the modern state of Israel, is taken as the base year, the Christian population was at 143,000. The first Israeli-run census of the population of the Palestinian Territories in 1967 placed the number of Palestinian Christians at 42,494. Bethlehem was once a Christian town. But its churches are emptying as families pick up and move to Chile or Honduras or Florida. Because of severe political and economic hardships, an estimated 500-600 Christians leave the Holy Land each year, and it is possible that the Christian church may one day cease to exist in this part of the world.

Fortunately, there are some very worthwhile organizations that are working to preserve the presence of Christians in the Holy Land. The Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land is a worldwide ecumenical Christian organization founded in 1994 under the auspices of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. The Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land provides an organized voice for Christians trapped in a hostile environment of ethnic distrust. As the Christian minority struggles to survive in the volatile political situation of the Middle East, the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land helps the poor and unemployed meet their human needs. One of the chief strategies to help keep young Christians in the Holy Land is to provide scholarships for higher education and opportunities for economic advancement.

For more information, contact the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, P.O. Box 29086, Washington, DC 20017-9086; phone: toll-free (866) 905-3787; e-mail: ; or visit their website at www.ffhl.org.

Another key organization in this effort is the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, which provides for the needs of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land and for the activities and initiatives which are necessary to support the Christian presence in the Holy Land. There are several priests and laity of our diocese who belong to the Springfield Section of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. For more information, visit their website at www.holysepulchre.net; e-mail: . Our Springfield Section Representatives are Gerald and Mary Glaus, e-mail: .

These organizations deserve our support to help preserve the Christian presence in the Holy Land. We also must be fervent in our prayers for peace in the Middle East.

May God give us this grace. Amen.