Iraq: Prelate worries about the spread of war

People in Iraq are scared that the war in the Holy Land will engulf the region, according to a leading archbishop, who is calling on governments around the world to bring about peace.

Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda said that an escalation of the conflict could trigger another wave of Christian emigration, with devastating consequences for the Christian community, which has already been decimated by war and extreme poverty.

Speaking with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), a Catholic charity for persecuted Christians, the Archbishop of Erbil, in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, said, “People in Iraq are really afraid that the violence will spread beyond Gaza.”

 “Speaking on behalf of the people here, especially the minorities, who tend to suffer more than others, please, God, no more war.”

The archbishop continued: “We are asking all leaders and all those with influence to calm the situation. God forbid that this war goes beyond what we have already seen. The settling of old scores would endanger the social cohesion of the whole region. The situation in Syria is not settled, nor has it settled in Iraq.”

Archbishop Warda said that his people were on tenterhooks, and that some were still uncertain about staying in the country after the recent violence and persecution carried out by ISIS, Al Qaeda, and other extremist groups. Increased warfare could, as a result, inspire emigration. The Christian community in Iraq cannot afford this.

Saying that “the wounds of ISIS have yet to heal,” the archbishop added: “The violence could trigger yet more emigration. The fear is still there. It is not as if the war we had was 30 years ago. It was less than 10 years ago.”

Before 2002, Iraq was home to more than 1.2 million Christians, but persecution, violence, and poverty prompted mass migration, and there are now only 150,000 Christians left. “For us as a Church, if you do not have your people around you, what’s the point of having any structures?” Archbishop Warda said. “We are not like an NGO. We are dependent on the presence of the people.”

The archbishop went on to thank Aid to the Church in Need and other organizations for years of emergency and pastoral help, especially during the crisis years climaxing with the 2014 ISIS capture of Mosul, Iraq’s second city, and the invasion of the Nineveh Plains, an ancient homeland for Christians.

He singled out ACN’s support for the Pope Francis Scholarship Program, which sponsors students at the Catholic University in Erbil, the school Archbishop Warda founded.

Archbishop Warda gave this interview during a visit to London, where he preached at Westminster Abbey during an All Saints Day service and recalled the martyrs of the Church.

In his homily, the archbishop spoke about the sacrifices of Christians in Iraq, through years of terrorist violence, and praised the heroism of martyrs, including his close friend Father Ragheed Ganni, who was killed in June 2007 for refusing to close his church.  

—John Pontifex