Aid to the Church in Need: Iraq: Mosul is emptied of Christians as they find a new future elsewhe

Iraq: Mosul is emptied of Christians as they find a new future elsewhe

Posted by Press release on 22/10/2008, 9:38 am
Message modified by board administrator 22/10/2008, 10:23 am

ACN News: Wednesday, 22nd October 2008 –

IRAQ: Seeking sanctuary

Mosul is emptied of Christians as they find a new future elsewhere
(With photo of members of Christian families who have fled Mosul)

By John Pontifex

CHRISTIANS in the Iraqi city of Mosul have dwindled to as few as 500 after a wave of persecution came close to snuffing out one of the oldest Church communities in the world.

Latest reports from northern Iraq received by the charity Aid to the Church in Need show that Christians are still fleeing Mosul, bringing the total number of those displaced in the past month to almost 10,000.

The statistics come amid continuing uncertainty over the identity of the people responsible for the deaths of at least 15 Christians, the destruction of five homes and a campaign of intimidation forcing people to choose between conversion to Islam and possible murder.

Meanwhile, Baghdad government ministers admitted to a breakdown in security in Mosul, making their comments at a meeting with displaced Christians in the village of Bartella, outside the troubled city.

Reports claim Baghdad has made four arrests in connection with the atrocities in Mosul but no further details are available yet.

A war of words has broken out between the Kurdish regional government based in Erbil and Baghdad, with each in effect blaming the other for the violence in Mosul.

Erbil says extremists loyal to Baghdad are culpable while the Arab authorities highlight the fact that most of the attacks took place in the western part of the city where the Kurds are in control.

Amid continuing safety concerns for Christians in Mosul, a large-scale emergency relief operation is now underway.

Aid to the Church in Need is providing food, blankets and medical aid in an emergency aid package of €30,000 ($57,000) being despatched to Christian towns and villages, mostly in the Nineveh plains.

A humanitarian crisis has been averted at least in part thanks to Christians living in the villages opening up their homes to the displaced.

Meanwhile, church halls, schools, pastoral centres and other buildings have been opened up to provide emergency accommodation.

Fr Bashar Warda, who is leading the aid relief operation, thanked Aid to the Church in Need, saying: “What ACN has provided is a real help. The support and prayers that you have given really give our people hope at a time when hey feel very vulnerable.”

Before the fall of Saddam Hussein, there were as many as 25,000 Christians in Mosul. The city had one of the largest proportions of Christians in the whole of the country.

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in about 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information, please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: www.aidtochurch.org

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Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148 ABN: 62 418 911 594
Ph/Fax (02) 9679-1929 e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org web: www.aidtochurch.org