Free Republic

Iraqi Christians on Wednesday called off Christmas festivities across the country as al-Qaida insurgents threatened more attacks on a beleaguered community still terrified from a bloody siege at a Baghdad church two months earlier. A council representing Christian denominations across Iraq advised its followers to cancel public Christmas celebrations out of concern over new terror attacks and as a show of mourning for the victims of the church siege and other violence.

The jihad against the Christians of Iraq continues apace, yet the world community continues to look the other way. "Iraq: Death threats continue to menace nation's Christians," from AKI, November 26 (thanks to C. Cantoni): Baghdad Nov. 26 (AKI) - Fresh death threats against Christians residing in Iraq are terrorising families and inciting them to flee, according to reports from 'al-Hayat' newspaper, which cites interviews from Iraqi security officials. Seven hand written messages for which Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility were found in various locations throughout the city, Abdullah al-Nawafili, a Christian community leader in the Iraqi capitol, Baghdad confirmed. "Threats...

Cardinal Francis George, speaking at the fall meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, told those assembled that the two priests slain in the Syrian Catholic cathedral on October 31 were killed while offering Mass and hearing confessions. “Our brothers in the priesthood, Father Thaer Saad and Father Boutros Wassim, were slain as one celebrated Mass and the other heard confessions,” Cardinal George said. “Father Thaer prayed and asked a terrorist to spare the lives of his parishioners before he died. Father Raphael [a third priest] moved parishioners to a safer location in the Church and was grievously...

A series of bomb blasts targeting Christians in Baghdad has killed at least three people and injured two dozen more, security sources have said. At least 14 roadside bombs were detonated and a mortar round was fired in Christian districts across the Iraqi capital last night and early this morning. An interior ministry source told Reuters that the attacks were a “continuation” of the massacre at Our Lady of Salvation church which killed dozens of worshippers last week. According to one report, today’s bombings targeted the family of one of the victims of the massacre. The Islamic State of Iraq...

The martyr in their midst was known all around the area. But in case anyone had missed it, a mourning sign had been posted outside Saad Adwar's house in the Baghdad suburb of Kampsar, revealing exactly where he lived. It said simply that Adwar had been killed "by the hand of a spiteful and hateful enemy while he prayed to his holy God in Our Lady of Salvation church" nine days ago. This morning, the terrorists who had killed 44 of Baghdad's Christians at their place of worship, came hunting them once more – this time in their homes. They...

BAGHDAD — Blood still smeared the walls of Our Lady of Salvation Church on Monday. Scraps of flesh remained between the pews. It was the worst massacre of Iraqi Christians since the war began here in 2003. But for survivors, the tragedy went deeper than the toll of the human wreckage: A fusillade of grenades, bullets and suicide vests had unraveled yet another thread of the country’s once eclectic fabric. “We’ve lost part of our soul now,” said Rudy Khalid, a 16-year-old Christian who lived across the street. He shook his head. “Our destiny, no one knows what to say...

The Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaeda off-shoot in Iraq, said in a statement on Wednesday that its network intends to target all Christian institutions. On Sunday, the group killed 58 civilians and security officers and wounded 67 others, after storming the Our Lady of Salvation church in central Baghdad during mass to take the congregants hostage. During the siege, the militants demanded the release of two Egyptian females who had allegedly sought conversion to Islam but were detained by the Egyptian Coptic Church. The group issued a 48-hour deadline to the Egyptian church to publicize the condition of the...

Deputy Interior Minister Lt. General Hussein Kamal reported the latest figures, which nearly doubled initial figures, on Monday, saying that the toll only included hostages and police officers, not the militants behind siege of Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad. Initial reports put the number of gunmen at around a dozen – at least five of which were killed along with the others when some of the explosives they were carrying went off. The explosion occurred as security officers stormed the church around 9 p.m. to bring to an end the roughly four-hour standoff. The ten or so militants...

One of the first things that your GetReligionistas do when preparing a post in our WordPress software is to head over to the “Categories� function box and click all of the relevant choices for how we want this item stored in our archives. It’s a far from perfect process that keeps raising questions. For example, “Are Pentecostals really evangelicals?� Or how about, “OK, I know that Jordan is in the Middle East. But how about Iraq and Iran? How close is close enough? Do I really need to create ANOTHER new category?� In the world of Christianity, there are some...

The church targeted by armed men on Sunday was one of five hit in co-ordinated attacks in August 2004 [AFP] Iraqi security forces with help from US forces have ended a siege by armed men who took scores of worshippers hostage in a Baghdad church after shooting dead two guards at the nearby stock exchange building.The release of the Christian hostages came just minutes after church and government officials said earlier that security forces were about to launch a rescue operation.The Vatican earlier called for a swift resolution to Sunday's hostage crisis through a spokesman."Helicopters are on the scene and our forces are getting ready to try...

A Muslim leader is calling on the Iraqi government and US-led forces to step up their efforts to protect the Christian minority in Iraq from extinction. Navaid Hamid, Secretary of the South Asian Council for Minorities (SACM) and a Muslim, said the deadly attack last weekend on a church in Baghdad was a heinous crime that should be strongly condemned by the international community. “With the murderous attack, the safety of Iraq’s Christian minority has become critical and it is the prime responsibility not only of the regime in Baghdad but also that of the allied forces led by [the]...

(Photo: Mourners at a 2 Nov 2010 funeral for victims of the attack on the Our Lady of Salvation Church/Saad Shalash)With al-Qaeda declaring war on Christians in Iraq and no end to political instability in sight, Catholic experts on the Middle East fear the fate of the minority Christian community there will only worsen. The pessimism followed the bloodiest attack against Iraq’s Christian minority since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Fifty-two hostages and police were killed on Sunday when security forces stormed a church that had been raided by al-Qaeda-linked gunmen. The bloodbath struck fear deep into the hearts of remaining...

BAGHDAD — To get to Mass at Our Lady of Salvation Church on Sunday, worshipers had to pass through a blockade of police trucks, past armed sentries on the rooftop, and through a security checkpoint where they were frisked for weapons and explosives. Some came in mourning black, many in tears, most in a spirit of quiet defiance. Worshipers and others showing solidarity gathered at Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad on Sunday, where the names of victims were displayed in the sanctuary and outlined in candles. “This gives us more strength,” said Sama Wadie, 32, a teacher, his...

They gathered in Our Lady of Salvation Catholic Church for an evening Mass. They are members of an increasingly besieged and forgotten minority in Iraq, Catholic Christians. Their herosm and love for the Lord has inspired them to continue to practice the ancient faith in the midst of what is a steadily deteriorating situation for them in this land they have called home for centuries. Our Lady of Salvation Church is no stranger to violence. Churches have been bombed before in Iraq, including Our Lady of Salvation. The Christian faithful have had to contend with an increasingly hostile culture. However,...

Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan. Credit: Sryo-Catholic Diocese of Mosul. Beirut, Lebanon, Feb 25, 2010 / 01:48 pm (CNA).- The Patriarch of the Syro-Catholic Church sent an urgent letter to the Iraqi Prime Minister on Wednesday pleading for government intervention to establish peace and security for Iraqi Christians, especially those in Mosul. The message is accompanied by news of peaceful protests from the area's Christians in the coming weeks.Translated portions of the text written by Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan, based in Beirut, Lebanon, to Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri Al-Maliki were sent to CNA by a priest from...

Baghdad, Iraq, Jul 14, 2009 / 03:21 am (CNA).- More than 40 people were killed or injured in renewed attacks on Christians in Baghdad on Sunday.Shortly after 7:00 on Sunday evening, a car bomb exploded in front of the gates of St. Mary’s Chaldean Catholic Church in Baghdad. The explosion occurred just as churchgoers left Mass.Seven were killed and around 30 were injured, with 18 requiring hospital treatment, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reports.Bombs reportedly went off at three other Baghdad churches around 4:30 pm, two of which were St. George’s Church in the Al-Ghadier section and St....

Baghdad (AsiaNews) – Fr Saad Hanna Sirop, the Chaldean Catholic priest freed Monday evening after 27 days in captivity, “was threatened and tortured”, another Iraqi priest, a fellow student, told AsiaNews. “He is really tired and exhausted. He was threatened and tortured. He’ll be able to talk about his painful and fearful experiences later.”Father Saad was preparing to leave for Rome when he was kidnapped. He was coming to receive his university diploma after he obtained his theology degree three years ago at the Pontifical Urbaniana University.“He is free and now is doing well. This is the only thing that...

Beirut, Lebanon -- Christians continue to flee Iraq because of religious persecution, even as some Iraqi church leaders are calling on their compatriots to return home. The church leaders fear that Iraq will become emptied of Christians if the mass exodus continues, leading some of them to issue calls to return that have angered refugees. "The Muslims of Daura are calling on Christians to come back," the Chaldean bishop of Baghdad, Monsignor Andraos Abouna, told Newsmax in an exclusive interview in Beirut this week. The Daura neighborhood of Baghdad has been the scene of mass persecution of Christians since the...

Hear the voice of a Christian Martyr singing a hymn in Arabic to the Blessed Mother, while watching a slideshow of his funeral mass. Hear the angelic voice of Father Ragheed Ganni, a 35 year old Chaldean Catholic Priest killed on Sunday June 3rd, 2007 with three of his deacons right after celebrating mass at Holy Spirit Chaldean Catholic Church in Mosul, Iraq. The car of Father Ragheed and the three deacons was stopped by terrorists shortly after leaving the church. They were forced to get down from the car and asked to declare their conversion to Islam. When the...

The Plight of Christians in Iraq   By Jamie GlazovFrontPageMagazine.com | Wednesday, September 24, 2008 Frontpage Interview’s guest today is William J. Murray, the chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition in Washington, DC. During the early 1980's, he served as director of Freedom's Friends, an organization which reached out to the victims of communism worldwide. In the 1990's, he founded the first commercial Bible publishing company in the Soviet Union. For many years his organizations operated evangelistic tours to the Soviet Union for Christians. From his office in Washington, D.C., Mr. Murray continues to work for the rights of Christians...

Thousands of Christians have fled Iraq's second-largest city after a dozen people were murdered in the worst week of violence against the faithful since the US-led invasion. Around 4,000 Christians have escaped Mosul in northern Iraq to neighbouring villages, creating a potential humanitarian nightmare as winter approaches. Many left without any possessions after receiving written threats, and militants blew up at least three Christian homes after chasing out the owners. The Iraqi government has sent 2,500 additional police to the city to protect churches. The refugees now face a bleak winter without any food or shelter in what aid workers...

(AINA) -- A Christian bishop received a threatening letter written by Ansar al-Islam, a Kurdish Muslim group affiliated with al-Qaeda in Iraq. The letter ordered the Christians to leave Iraq en masse and stated it is sending a final warning to Christians in Baghdad and other Iraqi governorates to leave Iraq permanently.

ISTANBUL, November 14 (Compass Direct News) – In this Turkish city’s working-class neighborhood of Kurtulus, Arabic can be heard on the streets, signs are printed in the Arabic alphabet and Iraqis congregate in tea shops. In 99-percent Muslim Turkey, most of these Iraqis are not Muslims. And they are not in Turkey by choice. They are Christian refugees who fled their homeland to escape the murderous violence that increasingly has been directed at them. It is hard to tell how many of Mosul’s refugees from the recent wave of attacks have made their way to Istanbul, but finding these residents...

CWN.org - Iraqi Christians are protesting the parliament's decision to stop seating minorities on the country's 18 provincial councils. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sent a letter to lawmakers appealing to them to restore the quota system for all minorities. Hundreds of Christians protested in the streets following church services Sunday. Militants have targeted Christians since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. The violence has forced many Christians to flee the country. Keith Roderick of Christian Solidarity International told CBN News that parliament's action will probably cause more to leave. "It sends a clear message that really we don't want you here,"...

In Iraq, the persecution of Christians continues, as murders and a mass exodus contradict Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's promise of security for everyone. Churches are trying to help the refugees, and some may come to Germany -- if the government settles on a plan. The long trip from Mosul to Baghdad traverses a bombed highway along the Tigris River, through a wasteland in central Iraq left behind by five years of war. For Rami Kamil, 43, his wife and their children, the journey was an escape from the growing prospect of being murdered in Mosul. Last Tuesday, at 6 a.m.,...

Iraq Christians face 'bleak future' Story Highlights: · Iraq's Christians face killings, intimidation; many have fled to other countries · Community has decreased from 1.4 million in 2003 to half that · One expert sees diversity decreasing, fears Muslim extremist majority in Iraq · Christians in Iraq face "horrible situation," says U.S. congresswoman By Joe Sterling CNN (CNN) -- It's a bittersweet Christmas season for Joseph Kassab, who grew up in Iraq under Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime and now lives in Detroit, Michigan. Tempering the season's joy is his concern for fellow Iraqi Christians, who have endured killings, displacement and...

Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk said in an interview with the L’Osservatore Romano this week that the situation in Iraq “is quite good and this means refugees could return to their homes. There are hundreds of empty and abandoned rooms and tents that await the return of Christians...”

MOSUL (Reuters) -- Gunmen have killed two Christian sisters and wounded their mother in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which has seen thousands of Christians flee their homes because of violence in recent weeks, police said. Some 2,000 families, an estimated 12,000 people, fled Mosul after a campaign of threats and attacks against the Christian community last month, although many have since returned home, the United Nations refugee agency says. In the latest incident, gunmen killed one woman outside her home, then stormed the house, killing her sister and wounding their mother.

TEL ASQUF - With Kalashnikovs slung over their shoulders, Iraq's first Christian militia enforces one simple rule on the border of this little village. "Anyone not from Tel Asquf, is banned." This village in northern Iraq's flashpoint Nineveh province, frequently targeted by Sunni and Shiite fighters, has now taken security into its own hands with armed patrols and checkpoints at the village's four entrances. The village borders are marked with a sand barrier built by residents in a bid to stop car bombs breaching the perimeter as they did in 2007 when two such attacks within six months rocked the...

BAGHDAD — Hundreds of terrified Christian families have fled Mosul to escape extremist attacks that have increased despite months of U.S. and Iraqi military operations to secure the northern Iraqi city, political and religious officials said Saturday. Some 3,000 Christians have fled the city over the past week alone in a "major displacement," said Duraid Mohammed Kashmoula, the governor of northern Iraq's Ninevah province. He said most have left for churches, monasteries and the homes of relatives in nearby Christian villages and towns. "The Christians were subjected to abduction attempts and paid ransom, but now they are subjected to a...

Two Christian sisters were shot dead and their mother stabbed by a Muslim mob just one day after it was reported that Iraqi Christians were returning to their homes in Mosul after fleeing Muslim persecution about one month ago.

Could the tide of violence against Christians in Iraq be turning? Hopeful news from Baghdad: Three years ago, a note appeared at Lita Kaseer's door. It contained a bullet and a one-word message: "Leave."Kaseer fled, along with hundreds of other Christian families in the Dora neighborhood in southwest Baghdad, once a vibrant Christian community.This year, she returned home from Syria, and on Thursday, attended Christmas Mass with her husband and 7-month-old son."It's always better to come home," said her husband, Khalid Kamil, 34. "In any other place, you are a stranger. . . . This is not the way our...

BAGHDAD - An Assyrian Orthodox priest was killed in a drive-by shooting Saturday in Baghdad, police and an assistant said, the latest attack against Iraq's Christian minority. The priest, Youssef Adel, was shot by gunmen who drove up in a car and opened fire as he was opening the gate of his house near the St. Peter and Paul church where he presided, an assistant said. Christians have frequently been caught up in the violence or been targeted in this predominantly Muslim country. The body of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, one of Iraq's most senior Chaldean Catholic clerics, was found...

The body of a kidnapped Chaldean Catholic archbishop was found in northern Iraq on Thursday, sparking outrage from Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki and other world leaders and expression of sadness from Pope Benedict XVI. “Yes, we found his body,” Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf told AFP, speaking of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho. A report from Rome had said that the body of Rahho was found in a shallow grave near Mosul after abductors telephoned the auxiliary archbishop of Baghdad, Shlemon Warduni. Rahho, 65, was kidnapped on February 29 after a shootout in which three of...

The Chaldean community around the world stand numb and in disbelief as news of Archbishop Bishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mosul is dead.

With the growing outcry from heads of State and international leaders, why has there not been even one formal statement from the United States President or Administration? Why have none of the Presidential candidates even mentioned the Archbishop of Mosul? We cannot, we must not, remain silent any longer.

Madrid, Mar 3, 2008 / 02:29 pm (CNA).- The Mensajeros de la Paz (Messengers of Peace) foundation is reporting that the captors of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mosul are demanding $1.8 million in ransom money to free the Iraqi prelate who was kidnapped last Friday.In comments to Italian Bishops’ news service Servizio Informazione Religiosa (SIR), Bishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk said that, "The kidnappers have called more than once asking for ransom." The president and founder of Mensajeros de la Paz, Father Angel Garcia, expressed his hope that the captors would relent and “for humanitarian reasons release the Archbishop...

The assault against Catholics in Iraq has continued, and sadly, is escalating....We call on President Bush and the current American administration to do everything within their power to secure the release of Archbishop Rahho.

Baghdad, Jan 10, 2008 / 02:05 pm (CNA).- New fears of an organized campaign to flush Christianity out of Iraq have been sparked by the recent attacks on churches in leading Iraqi cities. Concerns about a new "religious-cleansing" drive were raised by sources close to the Church reeling from Sunday's (January 6) coordinated bomb-blasts on at least six church buildings in Mosul and Baghdad. Iraqi Church sources, who requested anonymity out of concern for their safety, told the Catholic charity, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), that while only one person was injured by the bomb attacks, the...

Thousands of Iraqi Christians made their way to church through checkpoints and streets lined with blast walls, many drawing hope from a lull in violence to celebrate Christmas Mass in numbers unthinkable a year ago. "We did not celebrate last year, but this year we have security and we feel better," said Rasha Ghaban, one of many women at the small Church of the Holy Family in Karradah... Families streamed into the church's courtyard, wrapped in heavy winter jackets to protect them from the early morning chill. Young children with neatly combed hair held their parents' hands, and women stopped...

Yesterday, after I left my prefabricated hut in Baghdad's heavily fortified International Zone and made the journey of just one mile to St George's, the city's Anglican Church, I was greeted by more than 150 excited children. "Abouna, Abouna," they cried, using the Arabic word for "Father". "This year we are going to have the best Christmas ever!" I have to be escorted to my church by Iraqi Special Forces in armoured cars. As I took off my bulletproof clothes, I thought about the children's optimism. St George's is still surrounded by razor wire and barricades to deflect bomb blasts....

AIN TAMUR, Iraq (AFP) - No-one celebrated Christmas in Al-Aqiser church on Tuesday, for what many consider to be the oldest eastern Christian house of worship lies in ruins in a windswept Iraqi desert. ADVERTISEMENT Armed bandits and looters rule in the region and no one can visit the southern desert around Ain Tamur unescorted, local officials say. But 1,500 years ago, the first eastern Christians knelt and prayed in this barren land, their faces turned towards Jerusalem. The remains of Al-Aqiser church lie in the windswept sand dunes of Ain Tamur, around 70 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of the...

Thousands of Iraqi Christians picked their way through checkpoints and along dusty streets lined with concrete blast walls, packing churches in Baghdad on Tuesday for Christmas Day services. "We did not celebrate last year, but this year we have security and we feel better," said Rasha Ghaban, one of many women at the small Church of the Holy Family in Karradah, a mainly Shiite district in downtown Baghdad where many Christians live. "We hope our future will be better, God willing." A car bomb shattered the Christmas peace in the northern city of Beiji, killing at least 22 people, while...

Following years of persecution and not being able to attend Mass because of the threat of terrorism, Huzni Hermez and his family left their war-torn homeland of Iraq and found a place where they could freely practice their Catholic faith. With the cooperation of St. Anthony Maronite Catholic Church in Springfield, Springfield-based Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts and the Diocese of Springfield, Hermez and his family -- including wife Muntha Sooloka; children Yusif Yusuf, 6, Raymon Yusuf, 4, and Eleana Yusuf, 3; and Hermez's mother, Sarra Khoshaba -- arrived in Springfield Nov. 15. They are Chaldean Catholics, members of...

TEENA, Iraq -- Something seems out of place in the little village in the valley. First, there are the low-slung homes with the pastel exteriors -- yellows and pinks -- that scream for attention against the rugged backdrop of pine trees and mountain peaks. Then, up on the hill, sits the church with the squat steeple. But it's the cross reaching toward the magnificent blue sky that really stands out in this predominantly Muslim region and country. The Assyrian Catholic Church serves 32 families who fled the violence of Baghdad for the relative calm and security of Kurdistan here in...

Fathers Pius Affas and Mazen Ishoa Mosul, Oct 22, 2007 / 10:28 am (CNA).- Two Catholic priests kidnapped more than a week ago in Mosul have been released and are in good health, the Agence France-Presse reports. Fathers Pius Affas and Mazen Ishoa were kidnapped last Saturday after receiving threats from an unknown group.  They were reportedly held for a ransom of one million U.S. dollars, but it is unknown at present whether one was paid.According to the Rome-based missionary agency Middle East Concern, Syro-Catholic Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa was in charge of negotiating the release of the priests.Pope...

Three dozen members of one Christian church in Iraq disappeared over the course of a week, and only one returned, according to a minister who is warning of the increase of persecution of Christians in that violence-ridden nation. The warning from Rev. Canon Andrew White is being reported by Voice of the Martyrs, the ministry to persecuted Christians around the world. VOM cited an interview with White on CBNNews.com in which the Anglican minister from Baghdad was describing the conditions for Iraqi Christians for a committee on religious freedom. He said kidnappings, torture and executions of Christians are rising....

We rolled into Forward Operating Base, Rivera, the center of operations for 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment in the town of Saqlawiyah.  The Civil Affairs Group and the 2/7 chaplain were transporting me so that I could make Catholic Sacramental and Pastoral visits to all their Battle Positions.There is no separate space to set apart for Mass or a religious service, so I set up in the area where they eat and recreate which is also used as the triage area for the wounded. Foot patrols were returning after an eight hour shift through the night and others were departing...

Rome, Jul 26, 2007 / 10:20 am (CNA).- The Iraqi ambassador to the Holy See, Albert Edward Ismail Yelda, said this week Christians in the that country “are the seeds of the land of Mesopotamia, and I don’t think there is a force on this earth strong enough to eradicate them.” In an interview with the SIR news agency, Yelda spoke of the persecution of Christians in Iraq, “which the Holy See follows with particular concern.”  He condemned “all of the atrocities committed against Christians in Iraq and other minorities by radical and extremist groups in collusion with and sustained...