Iraq: persecuted Christians in a precarious situation

Abp. Giorgio Lingua, the Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq.

The Vatican news agency Fides published on February 9 the conclusions of the Extraordinary Synod of Chaldean Bishops, convoked by the Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako, at the patriarchal see of Baghdad on February 7, 2015.

In their press release, the bishops called for the government of the autonomous province of Iraqi Kurdistan and the national Iraqi government to “allocate the funds necessary to support the families that the so-called ‘Islamic State’ has driven from their houses and deprived of their possessions.” The bishops also asked that all “national and international forces” join “their efforts to liberate the occupied territories as soon as possible and to implement the arrangements necessary to protect Christians and other Iraqis, so that all might return home and live safely in a dignified way.”

The Chaldean Synod confirmed its support of the plan to create a Chaldean League, a civil organization to deal with the political and social questions concerning the future of the Chaldean communities.

It also mentioned the case of priests and religious who in recent years have abandoned their Iraqi dioceses to join the Chaldean Diocese of Saint Peter, based in San Diego, California, without the authorization of their superiors. The Patriarch of the Chaldeans asks them to return to Iraq to carry on their pastoral ministry there, calling them to “remain faithful to their Chaldean Church”.

During an interview on January 20, 2015, granted to Aid to the Church in Need, Abp. Giorgio Lingua, the Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq, explained that the return of Christians who have been expelled by the terrorist militias of the “Islamic State” “will not be easy. Besides the rebuilding of the houses and infrastructure that have been destroyed, such as schools, it will be a question above all of restoring lost confidence in their Muslim neighbors. Many Christians feel betrayed by their neighbors, because the latter pillaged their houses. Therefore it is a matter of repairing not only houses but also relations.”

Abp. Lingua added that if the new Iraqi national government “managed to regain control and to carry out a campaign of national reconciliation, then there will be a place for the Christians in Iraq.” But if the war persists and is prolonged, “the weakest will pay the price, and this is always about the minorities.”

The Nuncio hazarded the guess that almost 7,000 Christians had already taken refuge in Jordan, where many expect to be able to emigrate to Western countries. In all, Abp. Lingua estimates that around 10% of the 120,000 Christians who fled the plain of Nineveh last August have left Iraq.

(Sources: fides/aed – DICI no. 310 dated February 13, 2015)

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