A Bit of Good News About Iraq’s Christian Community
July 26th, 2008 at 06:08am Mark Noonan
The Christians of Iraq have suffered doubly - from Saddamit tyranny, and then as the easy target of terrorists and criminals. Things have improved remarkably in Iraq, and now we’re starting to see some signs of life in the Iraqi Christian community:
Christians in the southern Iraq have begun a campaign to restore churches which have been rendered unusable due to war and neglect.
Father Imad Aziz Al Banna of the Chaldean Archeparchy of Basra told Iraqlaan News Agency that the local Christian community has requested government funding for the restorations and is collaborating with the Ministry of Planning and the Basra Governorate Council, BaghdadHope.com reports.
Built in 1880, one of the oldest churches in southern Iraq, the Chaldean Church of Um Al Ahzan (Our Lady of Sorrows), recently reopened. Father Al Banna celebrated a special Mass and baptism there on June 29, Ankawa.com reports.
It presently serves only 18 Christian families. In the whole Archeparchy of Basra there are reportedly only one priest, two permanent deacons, and two religious sisters among 2,500 of the faithful.
Father Al Banna said there is confidence among Christians that the government can preserve the Christian religious heritage in the area. Some families who fled the region have even returned because of the new security situation.
The Christian community in southern Iraq dates back to the fourth century and reportedly was the launching pad for the spread of Christianity to the territories of the Persian Gulf.
The final test for the new Iraq is whether or not the Christian minority will be allowed to flourish - elsewhere in the Moslem world, under pressure from tyrannical regimes, the Christian communities, already small, have shrunk rapidly over the past few decades. Much has justifiably been made of the way Iraq’s Christians have suffered - but in Lebanon, Egypt and elsewhere in the Moslem world, it has been a long, dark night of persecution.
There are stirrings of change, however - this news story about Iraq is one of them, but I have it on first-hand account that Mass is celebrated in Moslem countries thought to be 100% Moslem, and I recently read a story where the Catholic Church is, very quietly, negotiating with the Saudi government to construct a church for Saudi Arabia’s large Christian community, mostly made up of foreign laborers imported to Arabia to do the work Saudis simply won’t do. The real end of the War on Terrorism is when Christians and Jews can live and work in the Moslem world without let or hindrance ffrom the Moslem governments, so let us take this small sign as an idicator of a much brighter future.
Entry Filed under: Religion, War on Terror
4 Comments Add your own
1. gotbrains? | July 26th, 2008 at 7:13 am
First, in case there was any doubt, Saddam was a murderous dictator who persecuted many groups (including, by the way, Moslem extremists). However, there were very few countries in the middle east where Christians could worship as freely and enjoyed as much state protection than in Saddam’s Iraq.
In fact, some Christians held high positions in government in Iraq. Tariq Aziz, Iraq’s foreign minister under Saddam, is a Christian.
And although the sectarian violence in Iraq has diminished over the last year, life for most Christians in Iraq has gone from difficult to horrible in the post-Saddam period. The inevitable eventual outcome in Iraq (whether we stay 16 months or 16 years) is some form of Islamic Republic headed by the Shi’a. In fact, this is already the case: the ruling coalition in Iraq headed by al-Maliki’s Dawa party, which is a Shi’a religious party with close ties to Iran. Already, the Dawa-led government has sought to tailor Iraq along more Islamic lines, and Iraq’s constitution specifically defers to the Q’uran as a foundation for the law. Of all the countries in the region, the current government in Iraq is most closely allied with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Question: as Iraq becomes more Islamic, and Dawa and the other Shi’a Islamic parties consolidate control, how do you think Iraq’s Christian communities will fare? The fact is, Christians under the secular government of Saddam enjoyed more protection and were far less persecuted than they are now, or will be, under the Islamic government currently in place.
Second question: is this what we spent $2-3 trillion and sacrificed 4,000 troops for? - an Islamic Republic closely allied with Iran?
Of course, the predictable and stupid response from many regulars here will be to grossly distort my words and claim that I somehow said Saddam had created some sort of Christian paradise in Iraq.
2. neocon | July 26th, 2008 at 8:55 am
“First, in case there was any doubt, Saddam was a murderous dictator…” - brains
And if Obama were calling the shots, Saddam would still be a murderous dictator.
Secondly, you offer zero evidence of the strict Sharia law you claim is being pout in place in Iraq and the fact that Christians are beginning to resurface and rebuild dispels your notion that will be even more prosecuted under this current government.
The benchmarks are being met which signals a new level of tribal cooperation and the following article completely refutes your liberal talking point:
“CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (Reuters) July 24, 2008 - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki invited Pope Benedict on Friday to visit Iraq, saying it would help the process of reconciliation.”
So, any other false propganda you’d like to parrot?
have a nice day
peace, neocon
3. Bigfoot | July 26th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Christians in the southern Iraq have begun a campaign to restore churches which have been rendered unusable due to war and neglect.
Under Sharia law, this would be impossible, since dhimmis (Christians and Jews who have submitted to Islamic rule, in order to avoid being killed simply for being Christians and Jews) are not allowed to build or repair their religious buildings.
While Christians have indeed suffered greatly, it’s not because of any official government persecution, but because of Islamic extremists, who attack Christians as part of their terrorism. The new government, if allowed to succeed, has a good chance of protecting Christians better than Saddam, who was much more concerned about his secular power than about the religious leanings of his people.
Saddam was a murderous dictator who persecuted many groups (including, by the way, Moslem extremists).
This would be news to Abu Nidal, Abu Abbas and Al Zarqawi, each of whom were harbored by Saddam’s regime, and to the suicide bombers in Palestine, who families were offered $25,000 rewards for dead Israeli Jews.
4. Dennis | July 26th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
“This would be news to Abu Nidal, Abu Abbas and Al Zarqawi, each of whom were harbored by Saddam’s regime, and to the suicide bombers in Palestine, who families were offered $25,000 rewards for dead Israeli Jews.”
Saddam knew the difference between religious and political ideology and he demarcated that line assiduously. He would not tolerate religious fanaticism inside Iraq, but he was not above exploiting his own religion for political advantage - a thing that is done almost everywhere.
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