Near-genocide conditions’ for Iraqi Christians, Archbishop Says
ICC Note
“In many countries, the situation for Christians seems to be worsening, sometimes to the point that we wonder if we will survive.”
By Sarah MacDonald
03/23/2011 Iraq (CNS) — An Iraqi archbishop spoke of “near-genocide conditions” for Christians in his country and said those fleeing violence were straining resources in other parts of the country.
Archbishop Bashar Warda of Irbil, Iraq, said part of the problem was the country’s “weak constitution, which tries to please two masters.”
“We are living in a region which cannot decide if it is for democracy or Islamic law,” he said March 16 at news conference sponsored by the Catholic charitable agency Aid to the Church in Need.
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Archbishop Warda said that since the U.S.-led occupation of his country began in 2003, more than 500 Christians had been killed in religious and politically motivated violence.
Between 2006 and 2010, 17 Iraqi priests and two bishops were kidnapped and beaten or tortured. One bishop, four priests and three subdeacons were killed.
“In most cases, those responsible for the crimes stated they wanted Christians out of Iraq,” the archbishop said.
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In little more than 20 years, Iraq’s Christian population has dropped from 1.2 million to 1.4 million to 500,000, and the archbishop called that figure “highly optimistic.”
“The past is terrifying, the present is not promising, so everything is telling us that there is no future for Christians,” Archbishop Warda later told Catholic News Service.
Describing the situation in the Middle East as “boiling,” he said Christians in the region “expect another war” due to the instability in so many countries and the ongoing tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.
“In many countries, the situation for Christians seems to be worsening, sometimes to the point that we wonder if we will survive,” he said. He added that the place of Christians as one of the original inhabitants of the Middle East had been “wiped from collective memory.”
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