Iraqi Christians fear for their safety and future in country
Australian communities of Iraqi Christians are seeking support and prayers for their brothers and sisters in Iraq. Recent tragic events have left the minority Christian congregations fearing for their safety and future in the country.
At a Christian Alhamdaniya wedding hall in Mosul, Northern Iraq on 27 September 2023, over 100 people were killed and over 100 people are injured, many badly burned, out of the 250 guests who ran for the exits when a pyrotechnic display ignited the ceiling of the hall and combustible building materials rained down below. [1]
Most of the wedding guests in the Alhamdaniya reception hall belong to Nineveh’s Christian minority, but the tragedy has shaken the whole community in the small towns of the Nineveh Plains region. Related families in Australia are members of the Assyrian Church of the East and Syriac Catholic Church.
Whilst the Iraqi Government has ordered an inquiry into the safety of the hall and building materials, relatives have called for an international inquiry into the incident. [2]
The latest tragedy, a day after the devastating fire in the wedding hall, was the food poisoning of over 50 people at a wedding party at Hawija in Kirkut Province. 20 people were taken to hospital. [3]
Earlier this year, on 8 March 2023, the main door of the St. George Chaldean Catholic Church in Dora, Baghdad, was burned and at the time was the third act of vandalism aimed at Assyrian Christians in Iraq in less than two weeks.
All of these incidents have shaken the Iraqi Christian minority and their communities around the world.
There is a fear that Christianity faces extinction in Syria and Iraq and the diaspora communities in Canada, USA and Australia are seeking government assistance to expedite migration for those seeking to make new lives in places of safety and protection.
Background:
Prior to the beginning of the second US-Iraq war in 2003, Christians in Iraq were estimated to number between 1-2 million. Two decades later, the number is estimated to have dropped 80%, with less than an estimated 250,000 remaining in Iraq. Between 2005 and 2011, the nation’s security vacuum and sectarian civil war left Christian churches and families vulnerable to a long series of targeted attacks. Between 2014 and 2017, the conflict and attempted genocide by ISIS towards Iraq’s religious minorities, including Christians, led to even greater numbers of Christians leaving Iraq.
Iraqi Christians look ahead to an uncertain future. While a relative calm security situation currently prevails, economic and political challenges are leading to a continued steady flow of Iraqi Christians emigrating from Iraq to seek a better future for their children elsewhere. [4]
"And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and all, just as we abound in love for you." 1 Thessalonians 3:13
MORE DETAILS:
[1] Fire rips through Iraqi wedding hall, killing around 100 in shock to Christian community | ABC News (go.com)
[2] Iraq’s Nineveh buries its dead as families seek answers after wedding fire | News | Al Jazeera
[3] Iraq: Dozens hospitalised after food poisoning wedding | The New Arab.com
[4] Two Decades of Persecution Leaves Iraqi Christians with an Uncertain Future | International Christian Concern: Persecution.org
NCCA Member - The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East
The history of the Church spans many centuries and its foundations can be traced to the first decades of the Apostolic times. The Church was established by the same Apostles that established the Church in Jerusalem and was a continuation of the Holy See of Jerusalem.
"According to the Apostolic Succession of the Assyrian Church of the Eat, the Apostles who established the Church of the East and served on the See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon were: St Simon Peter (who wrote his epistle from Babylon 1 Peter 5:3), St Thomas, St Bartholomew, Mar Addai (St Thaddaeus) and Mar Mari (from the seventy disciples)." Bishop Mar Beyamin Elya, at the opening of St. Nisbis Theological College.
By the end of the ninth century, the Church had grown to cover eastern Asia, China, India, Japan, Tibet, Mongolia, Afghanistan and Azerbaijan.
Assyrian Church members today, can be found in America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand having fled their homelands due to persecution. Of those that remain in the Middle East, many have now become refugees.
The NCCA prays for the Assyrian Church, its leaders and its community. Separated by great distances, having endured persecution and loss of homelands, they continue to preserve their unique culture and faith. We pray that God will continue to enrich and protect the Church.
