Douglas Al-Bazi

Douglas Joseph Shimshon Al-Bazi (born 1972) is an Iraqi priest in New Zealand. He formerly served in Baghdad, Iraq.

 Career 
Al-Bazi was vicar of the St. Elia Catholic Church, and the adjacent St. Elia Catholic School in the "working class" New Baghdad neighborhood of Baghdad.

By 2010, the school had an 82% Muslim enrollment, as a result of the exodus of Christians from Iraq.

The church was attacked twice in the year prior to the kidnapping; the Father was shot during one of the attacks.

Al-Bazi has spoken against persecution on Christians, including by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. In 2016, he spoke at the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C. to describe the violence happening towards Assyrian people in Iraq.

 Kidnapping in 2006 
Father Douglas was abducted in November 2006 by an Islamist group. He was tortured and cut to pieces, and was released nine days later. A bullet remains in his leg.

 References 

Category:Living people
Category:1972 births
Category:Roman Catholic priests
Category:People from Baghdad
Category:Assyrian people