Fifteen years have passed since the martyrdom of Fr. Ragheed Ganni, Chaldean priest of the Holy Spirit parish and secretary to the Bishop of Mosul, the martyr Archbishop Faraj Rahho. Ganni may soon receive the title of Blessed.
Ganni, considered one of the most influential martyrs of the Catholic Church in Iraq, was assassinated by fanatical terrorists on June 3, 2007, after celebrating the Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul.
“Simplicity of spirit and zeal for the faith”, these words were used to describe the priest by the Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil, Bishop Bashar Warda, when he met him in 1997 in Ireland.
Archbishop Warda continued: “When Father Ragheed was asked to volunteer to serve the pilgrims who came to pray and seek advice at the Derg Love Shrine, he accepted the invitation and brought happiness and joy to all our hearts.” .
Archbishop Warda underlined that the martyred Fr. Ragheed Ganni was very close to the youth. He always accompanied them and carried out activities that motivated them and helped strengthen his spirituality and ecclesiastical knowledge.
“I have always admired his leadership and his closeness to them. He was a father, a brother and an educator to all of them,” he added.
The life of Fr. Ragheed Ganni
Ragheed was born in Mosul in 1972, where he completed his university studies, graduating with a degree in Civil Engineering. He loved the Church as a child and learned its liturgical rites and melodies from it. He decided to dedicate his life to the Church in the sacred priesthood.
Bishop Georgios Jarmo sent him to Rome in 1996 to begin his path of priestly formation. He studied at the Irish Institute and continued his theology studies at the University of Saint Thomas Aquinas.
He had a strong desire to return to Mosul and serve the believers and members of his Church who were in tribulation due to the persecution of extremist Islamic groups since 2003. His wish was granted; he returned to Mosul and pledged to serve his people, as well as teach at the Babylonian College of Philosophy and Theology, in 2004.
During this period, the city of Mosul suffered from campaigns of intimidation, kidnapping and murder of Christians, in addition to the bombing of many churches and monasteries.
Many people were forced to seek refuge and flee to other cities and towns in northern Iraq, while entire families migrated to other countries, fearing for their lives and their faith.
These challenges were not an obstacle for Fr. Ragheed, who continued with all the pastoral activities, celebrated Masses in the various temples of his diocese and provided moral and spiritual support to the children of his church, even in the most difficult moments.
Ragheed constantly said: “The terrorists want to end our lives, but the Eucharist gives us life. When I hold the cup of the Eucharist in my hands, I say: this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” . I feel the power of him overwhelms me. I have the cup in my hand, but He is the one who sustains me and all of us, defying the terrorists and uniting us in his boundless love.”
He emphasized more than once, in his conversation with those close to him, that he would continue to spread the message that compelled him to be a missionary in the name of Christ, saying: “The terrorists think that they kill us physically or scare us spiritually with their brutal methods. Many Christian families have fled because of the abuses committed against them, but the paradox is that we have realized, through the violence of the terrorists, that the dead and risen Christ gives us life. This gives us hope and helps us to survive all the days”.
The threats directed at Fr. Ragheed Ganni continued due to the various activities he led with the youth in the church. His ministry angered terrorist groups in Mosul and death threats began to surface.
On the third Sunday of June 2007, terrorists arrested him after celebrating the Divine Liturgy with three deacons: Basman Yusef Daoud, Waheed Hanna Isho and Ghassan Essam Bidawid.
At that time, the terrorists asked him: “Didn’t we ask you not to open the church for prayer?” He replied, “How can I close the House of God in the face of the worshipers?”
These were the last words spoken by Fr. Ragheed Ganni, days before he became a martyr for Christ and his Church.
Father Ganni’s last prayer
Ragheed Ganni realized that the Islamic terrorists would not let him live, given his disobedience to their orders and his continued celebration of the liturgy in Mosul, so he wrote his last prayer on October 12, 2006:
“Lord, I don’t think they look at my prayer
Although it was a pessimistic sentence, everyone knew me as an optimist.
And perhaps, for a moment, they forgot. They wondered why he was so optimistic,
They have seen me smiling, braver and stronger in the most difficult situations.
But, when they remember the times of anguish that I lived,
and the hardships I’ve been through,
the ones that showed how weak I am and how capable You are,
you revealed how fragile I am and how strong you are,
They will know that I, my hope, have always talked about you.
Because I met you and you were the reason for my optimism
even when I knew my death was near.
But let me be with you now
Can I please put it in front of you
You know better than I what time we are living in.
I am a human being and I know how weak a person is.
I want you to be my strength so that you will not allow anyone to insult me in the priesthood that I hold.
Help me not to weaken and give in to fear for my life
Because I want to die for you, to live with you.
Now I’m ready to meet you; help me not to waste time for judgment
‘Cause I told you I knew you man, but I also told you I knew you
Oh my strength, my power, my hope.”
Translated and adapted by Eduardo Berdejo. Originally posted on CNA.
Priest and martyr of the faith: The cause of beatification of Fr. Ragheed Ganni