The exodus from its cities now complete, Iraq
is facing the extinction of Christianity, a Chaldean Archbishop
told the General Synod on Tuesday.
"Many times I have spoken in front of audiences such as this,"
said the Archbishop of Erbil, the Rt Revd Bashar Warda. "But it has
always been to give warnings of what might happen . . .
"Now, the situation is different.There are no more waves of
refugees or displaced persons to come to Kurdistan. Mosul is empty;
Basrah is empty; Baghdad is empty. We Christians do not have to
plan for that eventuality any more."
He went on: "It is difficult to have to plead or beg for the
help of the Church, the EU, the United States, Canada, to act now
in such a way that there is opportunity for a Christian nucleus to
remain and thrive in Iraq."
The previous day, Archbishop Warda had told MPs that air strikes
were "not enough" to defeat Islamic State militant. He begged for
Western troops to be deployed.
During the past year had seen Christians in Iraq had suffered
the "worst acts of genocide" in their history, he told the Synod.
"We are now facing the extinction of Christianity as a religion and
as a culture from Mesopotamia."