Welcoming Worshippers

Holy Martyrs opens this month

By Vanessa Denha Garmo

It is estimated that more than 50,000 Chaldeans live on the eastside of Metropolitan Detroit, primarily in Sterling Heights and Warren, and the community is growing. To accommodate the needs of the faithful, the St. Thomas Chaldean Catholic Diocese is set to open another church.

Holy Martyrs is expected to hold its first mass on Friday, August 6 at 6 p.m. 

Nearly 40 possible names were submitted and Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim chose the name most of the community priests preferred. “This name is truly suited for our community,” said Fr. Manuel Boji, who has been named pastor of the new church. “Our history is stamped with the blood from the believers.” 

Over the centuries, Chaldeans have died for their faith. In recent years, thousands of Christians have fled Iraq to escape religious persecution by Islamic extremists. Many have been killed, including Chaldean priests. The name of this new church is a reflection of this martyrdom.  

This past year, the Dioceses purchased an existing non-Catholic church in Sterling Heights, two miles from St. George and about six miles from St. Joseph, to accommodate the growing parishes. 

Holy Martyrs is a simpler church. It is less elegant than St. George and St. Joseph and lacks the same cultural influences in its artwork and artifacts, but it will serve the same significant purpose — spiritual guidance and leadership.

In addition to a demographic shift where Chaldeans have left one side of the Metropolitan Detroit area to move into the eastside, the area is also growing due to the Iraqi refugees settling in Michigan. 

“There is also a spiritual reason for the community’s growth,” explained Fr. Boji.  “The church is the nucleus, the center, the core of the community. It offers our people a feeling of security and stability. These factors are important and they are centered on the church.”

Fr. Boji anticipates collaborating with the religious leaders from both St. George and St. Joseph on a regular basis to ensure they meet the needs of the community. Each church currently offers six masses over the weekend. Holy Martyrs will also offer masses in Sourath, Arabic and English. Fr. Boji plans to offer a 6 p.m. mass on Sunday in Arabic and Sourath. 

The building, which has been fully paid for by the St. Thomas Diocese, also has facilities on the second floor to accommodate religious education. There are 16 classrooms and two conference rooms. However, the church is in need of school furniture such as desks, chairs and white boards. They are currently soliciting donations. 

The church also needs Catholic items for the altar and the surrounding areas to reflect a Catholic church. Seminarian Pierre Konja has been working closely with Fr. Boji and Associate Pastor Fr. Ayad Khanjaro this summer. He has been assigned to purchase needed items for the church. 

Fr. Boji plans on having Bible study, religious education classes, and language classes such as Sourath, Arabic and English as a Second Language inside the facility. 

The hope for this new church is to also attract the Chaldeans in the area who attend mass at the Roman Chatholic churches. Although Fr. Boji anticipates the new church to draw parishioners from the two existing churches in the area, he believes there are enough Chaldeans living in the area to fill all three churches to their capacities. 

Unlike Roman Catholic priests, the Chaldean priests have specific challenges — they must preach to a trilingual community. There are community members fluent in Arabic, Sourath and English but there are members who speak only one of the three languages and the Chaldean priests must accommodate their masses and homilies in order to reach these specific groups. 

Sometimes a priest will have to make specific changes in one mass knowing that there are various people who speak only one of the three languages.  

Regardless, Fr. Boji said their goal is the same. “Our responsibility is to lead people to Christ,” he said. “We are not serving one segment of the community; we want to reach all of our Chaldeans and lead them in their spiritual journey.”