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As Lent begins, the Scripture readings from the Book of Exodus tell harrowing stories of a religious minority fleeing persecution in the Middle East. Spending long and difficult years in the desert, the people wonder if they will ever know a stable, non-nomadic life again. A few weeks back the Holy Family readings told a similar refugee story. Jesus, Mary and Joseph left Palestine in the dead of night with nothing but the clothes on their backs, fleeing an oppressive regime and lucky to escape with their lives. In the words of modern-day asylum lawyers, they were “fleeing a well-founded fear of persecution.”

This story of families fleeing to preserve their lives and their faith is happening again today as Christians are forced to flee Iraq. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick tells moving stories of his visits with Iraqi refugee families in the Middle East. With Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, he led a delegation from This article appears in February 4 2008.

Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love is an Associate Professor of International Relations in the Politics Department of The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. She is also a Fellow at the Commission on International Religious Freedom. She teaches graduate and undergraduate International Relations courses at Catholic University and the Pentagon, such as Security, Just Peace, Terrorism, Globalization, and The Problem of Sovereignty. Her recent books include Beyond Sovereignty: Issues for a Global Agenda (4th Edition, 2010), Morality Matters: Ethics and the War on Terrorism (forthcoming at Cornell University Press), and "What Kind of Peace Do We Seek?" a chapter on peacebuilding to appear in Notre Dame University's volume on The Ethics and Theology of Peacebuilding. She serves on the U.S. Catholic Bishops' International Justice and Peace Committee, the Advisory Board of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network, and the board of Jesuit Refugee Services.

Dr. Love lives on the Chesapeake Bay outside of Washington, DC, with her husband Richard and three young children, Maria, Ricky and Ava, who inspired her New York Times best-selling children's books, You Are My I Love You, You Are My Miracle, You Are My Wish, and Sleep, Baby, Sleep.