Thomas Saleh

Geries Saleh entered the minor seminary of Saint-Stephen in Constantinople, where he completed his novitiate under the name Brother Thomas of Baabdat. He took his vows on July 2, 1900, and was ordained a priest on December 4, 1904. Sent on a mission to Mardin in Mesopotamia with Leonard Melki, he dedicated himself to teaching, preaching, and the sacraments, using poems and plays to teach the Bible. In 1910, he was transferred to Diarbekir. With the outbreak of the First World War and the persecutions by the Young Turks, he was expelled on December 22, 1914, and took refuge in the convent of Orfa.

In Urfa, Father Thomas continued his ministry and survived two waves of massacres. His martyrdom was sealed when he hid a wanted Armenian priest. The latter was arrested on September 24, 1916. During a search, the police discovered a revolver (likely planted by the agents themselves). Accused of harboring the priest and possessing a weapon, he was arrested on January 4, 1917. Thrown into prison, he endured severe torture and contracted typhus. Refusing to apostatize his faith for Islam in exchange for his freedom, he died of exhaustion and illness in Marash on January 18, 1917.

The cause for beatification was introduced in 2005 in Beirut. On October 27, 2020, Pope Francis authorized the decree recognizing his martyrdom in odium fidei, specifying that he died as a result of the rigors of his imprisonment. As no miracle is required for a martyr, his beatification was celebrated on June 4, 2022, at the Convent of the Cross in Jal el-Dib, near Beirut. The ceremony was presided over by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, in the presence of thousands of the faithful.

The spirituality of Thomas Saleh is rooted in the Franciscan charism of poverty, joy, and universal fraternity. Described as a "martyr of fraternal charity," he gave his life to protect a priest of another rite. During his ordeal, he manifested extraordinary fortitude, exhorting his companions to trust. He is today venerated as a model of the ecumenism of blood and an intercessor for peace in the Middle East.