Denver Catholic

5 DENVER CATHOLIC | MARCH 21-27, 2015 Cover Story Limited time offer at participating locations. Limited time offer at participating locations. Limited time offer at pa p rticipating locations. Limited time offer at pa p rticipating locations. King's Hawaiian® is a registered trademark of King's Hawaiian Holding Company, Inc. SIERRA MIST is a registered trademark of PepsiCo, Inc. TM & © 2015 Arby's IP Holder Trust King's Hawaiian® is a registered trademark of King's Hawaiian Holding Company, Inc. SIERRA MIST is a registered trademark of PepsiCo, Inc. TM & © 2015 Arby's IP Holder Trust Friday, March 27 7pm ourladymountcarmel.com DENVER ISIS overtakes the Syrian city Dabiq, the site of the final battle when Islam will triumph, according to Muslim apocalypse mythology. The organization publishes a magazine called "Dabiq" to recruit fighters from across the world. Understanding ISIS The terrorist group has forced 3.8 million to flee from their homes and an estimated 24,000 Iraqi civilians have been injured or killed by ISIS in 2014. ISIS spreads videos and images of beheadings and mass executions online. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self- proclaimed caliph of ISIS, relies on a leadership council,' cabinet and local leaders to order executions, oversee ISIS policy and handle operations. Estimated 20,000 to 30,000 ISIS FIGHTERS Since 2006, ISIS has overtaken swaths of Iraq and has crossed the Syrian border to ransack cities, take captives and gain resources. Land www.myfranciscan.org/good-Friday O ne local Catholic journalist's eye-opening trip to see the Syrian refugee crisis was more than a thrilling opportunity to report from the trenches. Reporter Kevin Jones of the Catholic News Agency said it was also a chance to raise awareness of a devout people torn by the brutality of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) militants and civil war. "It's definitely an amazing experience," said 35-year-old Jones. "I feel more obli- gated now to some of the people I have met to do a little more to help out the ref- ugee situation, to raise awareness about the people and to tell their stories." He told Catholic Relief Services its Egan Journalism Fellowship "expanded my horizons beyond description" by giving him a firsthand experience of reporting in a foreign country. In October 2014, he joined three other Egan fellows for the one-week trip to Lebanon and Jordan to interview and take photos and video of the refugees. CRS guided the journalists through areas of the country where it aided ref- ugees from Syria and Iraq with housing, education, counseling and other needs. With freelance writer Claire Schaef- fer-Duffy, editor Barb Fraze of the Catholic News Service, and reporter Peter Jesserer Smith of the National Catholic Register, Jones interviewed refugees, Church o¤cials, and local com- munity organizations. "The idea is that Catholic Relief Ser- vices takes people from the Catholic press over to a certain location where CRS is working," Jones said. "It's a mutu- ally-beneficial arrangement—journalists get the experience of reporting in a for- eign country and Catholic Relief Services gets their stories out into the Catholic press." Particularly poignant were his inter- views with Muslim families who fled Syria and Iraqi Christians who fled ISIS for fear of religious persecution. One man he met named "Mareo" stayed in an Armenian Catholic Church in Iraq with about 50 other Iraqi refugees. He shared with a translator how his father died in an explosion. "Mareo went on to explain to me that his father had been a guard at their home parish church in Baghdad which was a cathedral that su'ered many multiple bombing attacks," Jones said. "His father died in that attack. I asked him if he con- siders his father a martyr who died for his faith. And he said, 'Yes.'" He interviewed other families who lived through bombings, injuries and dis- placement. The Middle Eastern crisis has impacted devastating numbers of people with an estimated 1.9 million refugees displaced by ISIS last year, and some 10 million Syrians displaced since the out- break of civil war in 2011. "Meeting with the Iraqi Christians who fled ISIS rather than renounce faith was a very important part," Jones shared about the trip. "The Iraqi Christians have suf- fered so much." Jones said witnessing the conse- quences of war and atrocities and the people's steadfast faith made him reflect on his own faith. "Religion is a very deep part of (their) identity—it will certainly a'ect you," he said. "You look at yourself and wonder, 'If an ISIS-like group came through, what would I be doing? Would I be fighting? Would I be running? Would I break under pressure?'" He wrote more than a dozen stories about³his trip and the people he met, and posted the stories with photos and videos on the online social news site Flipboard. He titled the series "No Going Home? The Refugee Crisis in the Middle East," which is available for viewing online at http://bit.ly/NoGoingHome No going home SOURCE: BIPARTISAN POLICY CENTER AND THE NEW YORK TIMES BY NISSA LAPOINT 303-715-3138 | nissa.lapoint@archden.org www.twitter.com/DenCathNissa

• Cover