With the liberation of parts of Iraq from ISIS in 2017, Iraq’s Christians returned home to two unwelcome developments. Their homes had been burned, looted or destroyed by ISIS and Iran-backed groups who helped defeat ISIS—known as Popular Mobilization Forces—now controlled their towns.
Iraq
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Valentine’s Day brings love and some worry in Iraq holy city
In recent years, Valentine’s Day in the southern city of Najaf has emerged as a battleground.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis meets with Iraqi president amid growing tensions after Soleimani assassination
Francis has shown a great interest in Iraq and its people that have suffered so much since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
Posted inNews Analysis, Politics & Society
What is the Vatican’s response to Trump’s attack on Iran?
On “Inside the Vatican” this week, hosts Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell discuss the Holy See’s reaction to the U.S. drone strike that claimed the life of Qassim Soleimani and look back at the similarities between this attack and the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Prayer vigil pushes for peaceful solution in Iran crisis
Five Catholic groups co-sponsored the vigil: the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, the Franciscan Action Network, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Pax Christi USA, and the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Catholic leaders speak out as tensions escalate between the U.S. and Iran
Pope Francis prayed for peace from St. Peter’s Square. “War only brings death and destruction,” he said. “I call on all parties to keep alive the flame of dialogue and self-control and avoid the shadow of enmity.”
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Trump’s threats draw Iran’s cultural sites into tensions
If the U.S. were to directly bomb Iran, it could spark a war and lead to region-wide violence, potentially drawing other countries into a global conflict.
Posted inNews Analysis, Politics & Society
The U.S. killing of Soleimani could have devastating consequences for Iraq’s Christians
Christians have just begun to trickle back to communities that had been devastated first by ISIS then by the Iraqi and U.S. coalition forces that drove out ISIS. Those forces include the Shiite militia that have been targeted by the Trump administration over the last week.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Mideast Catholic patriarchs pray for those suffering, appeal for dialogue
“The wounds of the Islamic State have not been healed yet, together with the ongoing violence, poverty, unemployment and poor services that have pushed thousands of people, especially youth, to demonstrate peacefully, demanding the right to live with dignity and freedom in a stable, secure and strong independent homeland,” Cardinal Louis Sako, patriarch of Chaldean Catholics, said of anti-government protests.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Iraq’s Christians cancel Christmas celebrations in solidarity with protestors
Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, patriarch of the Chaldean Church in Iraq, decries the sectarianism that is prevalent in his country.