Christian Minority Persecution in Iraq
15th May 07
Members of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
have been among the Christian minority in Iraq for more than
250 years. Currently, there are Iraqi Dominican Friars,
Sisters, and Laity struggling to survive conditions in their
homeland. As the International Dominican Co-Promoters for
Justice and Peace at the Curia (headquarters) of the Order in
Rome, Italy, we endorse the plea for protection of the Christian
minority voiced recently by church leaders in Iraq.
Patriarch Mar Dinka IV of the Catholic Assyrian Church
of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Emmanuel Delly
of Babylon called on Iraq's beleaguered government to protect their
community from attacks by Al Qaeda-inspired Muslim extremists. In
a joint statement, the patriarchs said that Baghdad's remaining
Christians were facing persecution. In addition to calling on Prime
Minister Nuri Al Maliki's government to protect them, the patriarchs
also urged the United Nations to intervene. Before the US invasion
in March 2003 there were estimated to be around 800,000 Christians
in Iraq, around 3 percent of the otherwise largely Muslim population,
living mainly in urban centers such as Baghdad. Although
there were some attacks on churches in the immediate aftermath
of the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq's Christians were not especially
targeted while rival Sunni and Shiite Muslim factions went to war. As
a relatively wealthy community, however, many Christians fell prey
to kidnap and ransom gangs and many - probably more than half -
of them have fled the country or moved to the relative safety of
Iraqi Kurdistan.
In a recent sermon, Patriarch Emmanuel Delly spoke
out on the issue according to the Al Mutamar newspaper
stating : "We see that today we are being sent from our houses
and forcibly displaced from our homeland and alienated from our
brothers with whom we lived together" He also issued
a call to all Christians "I hereby send a plea in the
name of all Christians to officials and to all those whose power
is in their hands to bring about peace, security and stability
among the sons of the homeland.”
We support the Patriarch’s call and we urge
all members of the world-wide Dominican Family to take the following
ACTIONS as soon as possible:
CONTINUE TO PRAY for
the people of Iraq, especially the persecuted Christian minority
and, among them, our Dominican Sisters and Brothers.
CONTACT YOUR LOCAL
BISHOP, PRESIDENTS OF NATIONAL CONFERENCES OF BISHOPS, AND
THE PAPAL NUNCIO IN YOUR COUNTRY, urging them
to voice their concern about the deteriorating situation
of the Christian minority in Iraq.
CONTACT YOUR GOVERNMENT to
urge the occupying powers to ensure the protection of the Christian
minority in Iraq.
We thank you for all your efforts to participate
in this critical DOMINICAN ACTION ALERT. In all your actions remind
your contacts that you speak as someone who has FAMILY IN IRAQ.
In Dominic and Catherine,
Prakash Lohale OP |
Toni Harris OP |
International
Dominican Co-Promoters for Justice and Peace |
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Add your voice and send
a letter today:
Use
this link to find the address of your local bishop.
Here are the addresses you need:
Bishop
William Skylstad
President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington DC 20017-1194 |
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Archbishop Pietro Sambi
Papal Nuncio for the United States
3339 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 |
FYI
Dominicans for Justice and Peace and the Dominican
Leadership Conference petitioned the United Nations Human
Rights Council to address the basic human needs of refugees and
displaced people in Iraq and the region.
READ
THE STATEMENT
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