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Christians Speak Out on Iraqi Archbishop's Death

The death of a high-ranking Chaldean Catholic archbishop in Iraq has provoked outcry from the Christian community over the increased violent acts directed at Iraq’s tiny and rapidly shrinking Christian community.

Then earlier this year, 10 Iraqi churches were bombed within a span of two weeks. Although no one was killed in the attacks, they caused serious damage to many of the church buildings.

“The Chaldean Christians, some of the last remaining speakers of Aramaic, the language of Jesus, are suffering under the persecution of Jihadis that seek to drive them from their ancestral homes and create a pure Islamic caliphate erased of the memory of Iraqi Christians,” declared Faith McDonnell, director of Religious Liberty Programs at the Institute on Religion & Democracy.

She called on American Christians to stand up for the church in Iraq, reminding them that the United States has already made “great sacrifice” to bring freedom and democracy to the people of Iraq.

“The United States government must acknowledge that defenseless Iraqi Christians are particularly singled out in this jihad, and must be protected,” she emphasized.

Iraqi Christian activists in the United States have urged the U.S. government to support the idea of creating an autonomous zone in northern Iraq called the Nineveh Plains Administrative Unit.

The Nineveh Plains, which is the ancestral homeland of Assyrian Christians, would act as a state where Assyrians and Christians can practice their faith, speak and teach their language, and work without fear of persecution. Persecution in cities has already driven thousands of Christians to resettle and take refuge in this northern area.

Nina Shea, who is also a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, criticized the Bush administration for not acknowledging that Christians and other “defenseless minorities” are persecuted for their faith.

“No policies exist to address their (Christians and minorities) specific needs in Iraq or facilitate their finding refuge abroad,” Shea recently wrote in the National Review. “No programs exist to train and support them to police their own villages – more critical than ever now that the military surge has flushed terror northward.

“No checks are in place to ensure that their villages in Nineveh and elsewhere in the north share equitably in U.S. largesse,” Shea wrote. “No senior administration official has ever even met to hear the views of their American leaders as a group and forge solutions.”

Shea supports the creation of a Nineveh Plains for Iraqi Christians.

"Our Iraqi sisters and brothers in Christ live each day under the threat of violence and death," the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches USA, said. "All Christians and persons of faith pray for their safety, even as we remind the Iraq government of its urgent responsibility to protect all Iraqis."

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