Pope Francis is the first-ever pontiff to visit Iraq, where over 95% of the population is thought to be Muslim. He arrives at a difficult time for its Christians, whose forebears have been in the country since the first century. Churches are being rebuilt, but there are fewer believers to fill the pews. Around 1.2m Christians lived in Iraq in 2003. War and misery have pushed that number down to around 250,000, or less than 1% of the population . Many of those who left will never come back.
Reconstruction has happened separately from efforts to stabilise the region, says Reine Hanna of the Assyrian Policy Institute, a think-tank in Washington. It reckons that across the Nineveh Plains, 53% of Assyrians, a predominantly Christian ethnic minority, have returned to their villages. But in some areas that number is less than 10%. “When people don’t feel safe, it doesn’t matter if they have reconstructed churches or houses,” says Ms Hanna.
The Iraqi government has made at least some effort to reach out to Christians. It declared Christmas an official holiday last year. But many Christians say it treats them as second-class citizens. They have a tougher time getting government jobs than Muslims. The constitution dating from 2005 is based on Islam. Marriages between Muslims and Christians are frowned upon. Children born of mixed parentage are automatically classed as Muslim, even if the child is a product of rape.
And who is really responsible for these “years of war and misery”?
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If Israel able to airlift the Falashas, the Christian community has the responsibility to give asylum to these Christians. Thanks for highlighting the issues, but a lot needs to be done.
At times like this, influential media like the Economist should be the conscience of humanity to see through the social messes to pinpoint the root causes, to overcome lazy routine thinking to offer sharp insights, to broaden perspectives, to be really brilliant. Not this lame.
Shattered by years of war & misery? And yet the faith in almighty God remains? Terrible time? Since when there has been no terrible time on earth? Pontiff? Who’s a pontiff if not just a regular person? Christians? What’s so special about Christians compared to any other people?
Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, ...are FAILED states, because of 1) America, 2) Religion, 3) Sociocultural factors. They will be the source of problems for EU & World.
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