Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda of the Archdiocese of Ebril, Iraq and Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington will celebrate a Votive Mass for Persecuted Christians on Saturday, January 25, at 5:00 pm at the Basilica of Saint Mary in Alexandria, Virginia.
Archbishop Warda is a leading international voice for the persecuted Christians of Northern Iraq and the chief administrator of pastoral care and relief services for nearly 20,000 threatened Christian families in the region. As part of his efforts to support the continuing Christian presence in Iraq, he founded the Catholic University in Erbil, which was inaugurated in 2015.
Archbishop Warda was ordained a priest in 1993 and was consecrated as Archbishop of Ebril in 2010.