By Tim Harfmann
Each year, the annual Bishop DiMarzio Golf Classic raises funds for a cause. This year, it’s going to Télé Lumière, the first and only Catholic television station in the Middle East.
Based in Lebanon, the station broadcasts worldwide.
“We have to remember that the Body of Christ is one, and when one member is hurting, other members are,” Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio said.
“We don’t recognize it all the time because we are a Church that is spread throughout the whole world. We want to be in solidarity with them.”
John Abi-Habib, the honorary Consul General for Lebanon, said that broadcasting from the Middle East raises awareness about Christianity becoming a minority in the region.
“This is a big thing because now all the other governments are aware of the persecution of Christians, and then they’ll be able to protect them and keep them in their place,” he explained, noting that that includes countries such as Iraq.
“Christians in Iraq, there were over 2.5 million. Today, they estimate only 100,000 of them.”
On July 11, over 130 duffers hit the links at the annual golf classic organized by DeSales Media Group NET-TV’s parent company.
Monsignor Kieran Harrington, Vicar for Communications in the Brooklyn Diocese, says Télé Lumière lets Christians in the Middle East know they’re not alone in their faith.
“This is important for Christians who are feeling a sense of being besieged, to let them know the good news of what’s happening within their community and all throughout,” he said.
“This is what helps people stayed rooted. This is the important role that media plays in kind of keeping people as broader part of a community.”
“We need to work more and more together so these things don’t happen to our kids and then to generations to come,” said John, on a day drove home the importance of that community and the fight against persecution.