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Right now, American movie theatres are featuring the summer blockbuster Dunkirk, written and directed by Christopher Nolan, about the famous WWII evacuation of trapped Allied troops which most Brits regard as among their finest hours.

That evacuation, in which hundreds of ordinary people joined an impromptu flotilla to bring the troops home, occasioned Winston Churchills famed 1940 speech: We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

Obviously, the WWII-era Dunkirk was a moment of high, world-changing drama, and it deserves to be memorialized. However, theres an equally dramatic, but as-yet uncelebrated, Dunkirk going on right now before our eyes, in this case a moment of great Catholic heroism.

The difference is, its actually a Dunkirk in reverse the idea isnt to get people out, but to help them stay. Thats an image Ive used before, and it remains completely on the money.

RELATED: Group leads Dunkirk in reverse for Christians of Iraq, Syria

Since the rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, every religious minority in the region has suffered, with Christians leading the pack because of their numbers and visibility. A variety of international groups, including the U.S. government, has recognized those Christians as victims of genocide.

The devastation has been staggering. In Iraq in 2003, there were an estimated 1.5 million Christians, while today the high-end number for those left is usually set at around 300,000. Similarly, Syrias Christian community is believed to have been cut in half.

An image of Mary and Jesus damaged by ISIS in the Nineveh Plains. (Credit: Photo courtesy of the Nineveh Plains Reconstruction Project.)

Given the lethal violence directed at Christians, as well as the general social and political chaos, the real question probably isnt why so many have left, but why those brave few have remained. Therein lies the tale of the Catholic Dunkirk in reverse.

Essentially, the answer is because private Christian organizations around the world, the lions share Catholic, have stepped up for the last five years or so, ensuring those Christians are fed, sheltered, and have access to medical care and, more importantly, that they have the promise of a better future to come, thereby offering them reason to ride out the storm.

One might think that such a responsibility for humanitarian rescue would fall to the entire world, especially the major Western powers and inter-governmental bodies such as the United Nations. Indeed, the UN and Western governments have invested major resources in Iraq and Syria, but the overwhelming majority has never reached Christian victims of the conflict, and doesnt to this day.

Heres why: The bulk of public humanitarian aid in Iraq and Syria is delivered through major refugee camps, either in places such as Erbil, or to camps in Jordan and Lebanon. However, Christians typically dont go to those camps, fearing infiltration by Jihadist loyalists and thus further exposure to persecution and violence.

As a result, the Christians take refuge with church institutions churches, schools, clinics, hospitals, social service centers, even the private homes and properties of other Christians. What that means is that from the beginning, those Christians, numbering in the hundreds of thousands by now, have been basically abandoned by most international relief efforts.

A February 2017 image shows the destruction of Batnaya, a small town on the Nineveh plains, near Mosul. Approximately 850 Christian families were living there when it was taken over by ISIS in August of 2014, and only liberated at the end of October 2016. The town was held by ISIS and so subject to devastating aerial bomb attacks from coalition forces. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need.)

So, whos giving them food, water, clothes and medicine? Who, in effect, has kept them alive?

To begin with, its been the local churches in Iraq and Syria, who have done absolutely astonishing work in supporting people in the most difficult circumstances imaginable. The bishops, clergy and religious in those two nations are among the most unacknowledged moral heroes of our time. However, theyre far from having deep pockets, so whos making that heroism possible?

The answer is, We are, as in American Catholics. Certainly Catholics, other Christians, and people of good will from all around the world are also involved, but theres been a special, and remarkable, mobilization by American Catholic organizations.

Consider the following numbers, which are only representative rather than comprehensive.

All in, thats a stunning amount of American Catholic money flowing to help some of the most embattled Christians in the world today.

At the original Dunkirk, some 330,000 Allied troops were rescued. Although exact numbers at this stage are impossible, its a slam-dunk certainty that at least that many Christians have been kept alive, were able to remain with their families, and given some hope of better things to come by the current Dunkirk in reverse.

Fear for the future, however, hasnt disappeared. I spoke this week to Father AndrzejHalemba of Aid to the Church in Need, which is spearheading a major effort called the Nineveh Plains Reconstruction Project, designed to rebuild houses and other facilities destroyed by ISIS to allow Christians in Iraq to return to their village homes.

The Christians ask me, Father, is our future going to be like Turkey? he said. The reference is to the fact that in 1915, Christians were almost one-quarter of the population in Turkey, but today its around 0.2 percent, principally the result of the Armenian Genocide.

To avoid that result, the Nineveh Plains Reconstruction Project aims to generate $250 million to rebuild the roughly 13,000 private homes that were burned, destroyed or partially damaged. Aid to the Church in Need has already rebuilt 100 homes, and, in the meantime, is caring for the roughly 12,000 other families, or some 95,000 people, waiting to go back.

Eventually, the idea is also to rebuild the 363 church properties that were also burned, damaged or destroyed, not to mention thoroughly looted.

A survey conducted by Aid to the Church in Need in February found 41 percent of displaced Christian families today want to return, and another 46 percent are considering doing so. Thats a reflection of military defeats for ISIS, of course, but also to the commitment of Aid to the Church in Need and other groups in providing these people a reason to believe theyre not alone.

Halemba expressed strong faith that the U.S. government will contribute to the reconstruction effort, since private Catholic resources arent infinite.

The U.S., definitely, is famous for its generosity and compassion with people who are internally displaced and victims of genocide in Iraq, he said, saying he has strong faith that governmental organizations from the U.S., Germany, others, will extend a helping hand for Nineveh Plains citizens, including Christians, Yazidis, and others in need.

Heres hoping that confidence is justified.

Halemba stressed, by the way, that the Christians of Iraq arent beggars.

We dont need foreign companies to come build houses, he said. The people are industrious and qualified. Weve got carpenters, engineers, masons, and others, ready to work.

This is about restoring dignity and giving hope to the citizens of the Nineveh Plains, and at the same time giving them salaries, he said.

Halemba called for a great appeal in support of the Nineveh Plains Reconstruction Project to save the cradle of Christianity. More information can be found on the projects website.

As long as were expressing hope for things, heres something else to dream about: That one day, the courage and the commitment of these Catholics who have put everything on the line their money, their blood, sweat and tears, even their lives to save the worlds most beleaguered Christians, and to help ensure that Christianity doesnt vanish from one of its antique strongholds, will also be captured in a Hollywood blockbuster.

For sure, its a drama that lends itself to celluloid. Its also one that calls for vigorous effort to bring the story to conclusion, so that the final scene isnt leaving anybody on the beach.

See the rest here:
Where's the blockbuster for the 'Dunkirk in reverse' in Iraq and Syria? - Crux: Covering all things Catholic