UPDATE/FURTHER INFO: For those of our readers who will be in the UK, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, will preside and preach at a remembrance service for the victims of the Baghdad massacre, to be held at Westminster Cathedral on Friday, November 27. Catholic or not, do try to attend to protest and to show your support.
After the horror of last weeks massacre of 58 Iraqi Christians at a Baghdad church by a RoP mob, the exiled Archbishop tells his flock it’s finally time to up sticks and begin an exodus:
A senior Iraqi Christian is to call on believers to quit the country, after gunmen targeted a church in Baghdad.
Archbishop Athanasios Dawood, who is based in the UK, will make his appeal during a service at the Syrian Orthodox Church in London.
The archbishop has previously criticised the lack of protection for Iraqi Christians.
At least 52 people died as security forces stormed a Catholic church in Baghdad to free dozens of hostages.
A number of gunmen entered Our Lady of Salvation in the city’s Karada district during Mass on Sunday 31 October, sparking an hours-long stand-off.
The militants made contact with the authorities by mobile phone, demanding the release of al-Qaeda prisoners and also of a number of Muslim women they insisted were being held prisoner by the Coptic Church in Egypt.
After negotiations failed, Iraqi security forces stormed the building, before the gunmen reportedly threw grenades and detonated their suicide vests.
On Sunday, Archbishop Dawood is expected to advise all Christians to leave Iraq now that al-Qaeda has warned of more attacks there.
The archbishop is also calling on the UK government to grant Christian Iraqis asylum.
Christians – as ethnic Assyrians – have lived in Iraq since the 1st Century, but following the fall of Saddam Hussein, they have become isolated and the Baghdad government has proved unwilling or unable to protect them.
There has been a string of bomb attacks on churches leading many to flee to neighbouring countries.
Church leaders have in the past advised the faithful to stay in Iraq and strengthen their communities.
But such is the insecurity, there are signs this policy may be about to change.
“Fight those who believe not in God nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by God and His Apostle, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued” Qur’an 9:29
Anyone who knows about Islam or reads publications such as ours will be all too aware of the plight of Christians living in Muslim lands. Sanctioned by Allah, non-Muslims in every Muslim-majority country in the world face life as second-class citizens; with restrictions and challenges ranging from low-level harassment to outright (and often violent) persecution by both the state and their Muslim neighbours.
Humiliation kidnap, rape, violence, legal persecution and other forms of hatred are rife and regular. Post-Saddam Iraq is one of the worst examples possible. Christians here are a target for any violent Islamist thug that feels the need for a little blood-letting. Or a lot, as was the case last week.
This is no place for Christians.
We fully support the Archbishop’s Dawood’s call for all Christians to quit Iraq – and for them to be afforded asylum in Britain and the West. Without the bloody sword of Islam over their heads, they are sure to integrate well and lead peaceful, productive lives.
[Source: BBC News] 
I have read that there were possibly 800,000 to 1 million Christians in Iraq before the U.S.invasion of 2003(an illegal war)....Under Sadaam, there was relative peace...After 2003 Christians were killed or had to leave....Al Quaida(radical group)was not in Iraq at the time...Did U.S.try to save the Christians then?I didn't even realize there were Christians in Iraq until I read several articles;never heard a word from our so-called Christian leaders...Now the country is practically destroyed and the radical groups are taking over..It is very sad and I hope the Christians find a better home..Do you think the U.S.wants them???I doubt it ...Very sad...I have to say when the republicans won back some political power last week, I felt like I was facing being in the WCG again, about 27 years worth;left WCG 1995....the same kind of WCG attitude is how some want to lead this country;I have changed since those days of the past...So, again, do you think the U.S. politicians want the Iraqi Christians to move here???Why no help from this part of the world....All Christians are brothers and sisters...family...All Muslims are not bad,evil...All Christians are not bad. evil.......but some are...Virginia
ReplyDeleteI doubt very much if this country will offer them sanctuary. It would be a shock if we did. If I remember right I think National Geographic did a story on Iraq years before the war and it told how the Christians were living in relative safety, and how life was. Of course it glossed over the fact Saddam was murdering ethnic tribes in the northern parts of the country, and else where. But Saddam surrounded himself with the Christians and secularists because he knew he could count on them. Many were allegedly Ba'athists. Now they are out of power and the extremists are slowly killing them off. The extremists are also strangling the country taking away the relative freedoms that the did have before the war. You don't hear a peep out of the evangelicals in their warm and cozy mega churches. Like Armstrongism, they do not see Christians as 'true' Christians outside the borders of the US. Which is as disgusting as the stance Meredith, Flurry, UCG, and others take against anyone not a COGlet member.
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