Patriarch blasts Iraqi government, international community for failure to help persecuted Christians

September 04, 2014

The head of the Chaldean Catholic Church has renewed his criticism of the Iraqi government and the international community for their failure to address the persecution of Iraq’s Christians.

“The curtains have been drawn on the painful events, and 120,000 Christians are uprooted from their historical homeland because the political Islam does not want them there, and the world is silent, standing still, either because it approves or because it is incapable of acting,” said Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako.

“The suffering of the displaced Christians and other minorities is mounting: their needs are escalating and their fears of an unknown future of their shocked children, seized towns, and looted houses keep them sleepless,” he added.

He continued:

What hurts us most is the inability of the machinery of the government to impose law and order in front of the on-going and significant deterioration of security, which fosters a culture of violence that provides the extremist groups a favorable locale to expand! In Baghdad, Christians and others are kidnapped in armored and shaded cars in broad daylight, and are threatened to leave their houses, and harassed in some schools and in some public offices where they hear spiteful words.

Noting that “the displaced Christians are faced with a pointless waiting for an unknown future,” the patriarch called upon them to remain in Iraq rather than emigrate to the West.

“Active and lively Christian groups must move to construct the future, because the challenges of life are faced with courage rather than cowardice,” he said.

 

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Further information:

• After A Month Of Their Displacement, The Christians In Iraq Are Going Extinct (Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate)