The Christian minority in Iraq fears reprisals from Muslim extremists who associate them with the so-called “Christian” West, reports Assist News Service.
According to the report, The Barnabas Fund, an organization that helps and reports on persecuted Christians, says Christian leaders in Iraq fear it would only take one small spark – an aggressive anti-Christian sermon preached in a mosque or an argument between a Christian and a Muslim neighbor – to trigger violent attacks on churches and Christian homes.
The organization reports that many Christians have left Baghdad to return to their ancestral homes in northern Iraq, while others have fled into Syria.
“The churches, however, will stay open, regardless of what happens, to guarantee at any time shelter for all,” said Archbishop Jean Benjamin Sleiman, according to the Assist report. Christians in Baghdad have been sheltering in churches where they reportedly have found encouragement and prayer.
According to The Barnabas Fund, in the 12 years since the end of the first Gulf War the Christian population of Iraq dropped by over half, from 1.5 million to 700,000. The group says Christians have fled the country due to pressure from Saddam Hussein’s regime, U.N. sanctions and hostility from Muslims.
“The situation has now become so bad that many Christians dare not openly wear crosses in public for fear that this would make them a target,” said The Barnabas Fund. “A number of violent incidents have occurred in recent months, including the brutal murder and decapitation of a Christian nun by a Muslim mob. As the war drags on, Christians fear that they could become the victims of further such violent attacks on a much larger scale.”
Meanwhile, Compass Direct news service reports Christians in Iraq have not been spared from the effects of the coalition bombings in Baghdad, Mosul, Kirkuk and Basra.
“The morale among people we have spoken to is higher than we expected,” said a Christian in contact with the church in Iraq, according to the Compass report. “On Sunday (March 23), some of our friends went to church in the morning. During the Lord’s Prayer, as they finished the words ‘and deliver us from evil,’ they heard a terrible explosion not far away. They know that God is with them, protecting and encouraging them.”
Several Christians have had their houses damaged by bombs, reports the news service, and one woman was treated for shrapnel injuries. A Christian woman recovering from a recent operation for cancer says that when the bombing starts, she and her niece get together and sing and pray until it subsides.
“This conflict has forced us to live for each other and focus on helping each other get through these times of great danger. But we trust in God’s support, His protection and strength,” one Iraqi Christian said in the Compass report.
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