Newsfeed
Hagia Sophia controversy goes beyond Muslim-Christian tensions to treatment of ‘paganism'
Author: Ehaab D. Abdou & Theodore G. Zervas
Publication Date: 11/8/2020
Source: The Conversation
The recent uproar from within Turkey and globally about changes to Hagia Sophia — a 1,500-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site of religious significance to both Christians and Muslims — is justified and understandable.
A Turkish court revoked the site’s status as a museum while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the space open for Muslim prayer. The move effectively claimed Hagia Sophia as a mosque and is seen as part of Erdogan’s push to assert his version of an exclusionary religious Islamic identity in Turkey
Archbishop: BBC series forgets Iraq’s Christians
Publication Date: 25/8/2020
Source: Premier Christian
An Iraqi archbishop has accused the BBC of ignoring the plight of persecuted Christians in its recent documentary 'Once Upon a Time in Iraq'. Rt Rev Bashar Warda, the Chaldean archbishop of Arbil, claims that the stories of those oppressed because of their faith have been "airbrushed” out of the film.
‘Bad news’ for Turkey’s marginalized Christians
Author: Demetrios Ioannou
Publication Date: 8/5/2020
Source: Politico
For Turkey's Christians, the country's decision to reconvert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque represents yet another blow to their already marginalized community.
Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared that the Istanbul monument — which had been the Christian world's largest church for nearly a millennium before becoming a mosque in 1453 and a museum in 1935 — would once again be a Muslim place of worship. The Hagia Sophia subsequently reopened for prayer with a grand ceremony on July 24.
Three years after the Caliphate, Iraq’s Christians find little incentive to return
Author: Paul Gadalla
Publication Date: 4/8/2020
Source: Atlantic Council
t’s been three years since the guns fell silent in Mosul, the onetime capital of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). With the Caliphate finally pushed out, it seemed the nightmare of extremist rule was finally coming to an end, giving Iraq’s Christian minority a chance to reclaim their homes after years spent sheltering under brutal conditions, fleeing to refugee camps, or taking flight abroad.
Kurdish man arrested and accused of apostasy
Publication Date: 13/8/2020
Source: Christian Solidarity Worldwide
CSW has learned that a 40-year-old Syrian Kurdish man was arrested and accused of apostasy by Failaq Al-Sham, an Islamist group loyal to Turkey, on 30 July.
The Obsessions of Lebanon’s Christians
Author: Hazem Saghieh
Publication Date: 26/8/2020
Source: Asharq al-Awsat
Before the horrifying crime at the Port of Beirut, a Lebanese Christian lady named Jocelyne Khoueiry passed away after a long battle with illness. In the Christian milieu, it seemed an event whose ramifications few had been prepared for.
Pope extends Eastern Catholic patriarchs' jurisdiction
Author: Cindy Wooden
Publication Date: 8/8/2020
Source: The Tablet
Pope Francis has extended the authority of the Eastern Catholic patriarchs to their faithful living in the countries of the Arabian Peninsula.
Iraq: a beacon of hope for Christians of Qaraqosh on the Nineveh Plains
Author: Ragheb Elias Shaba & Maria Lozano
Publication Date: 4/8/2020
Source: Church in Need
On August 6, 2014, ISIS swept across the Nineveh Plains, north and east of Mosul. Some 120,000 Christians had to flee overnight. Qaraqosh, 20 miles east of Mosul, was the largest Christian city in Iraq. After Iraqi forces and their allies were able to recover the territories in October 2016 tens of thousands of displaced Christians returned to the ruins of their home cities. According to the latest data published by the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee (NRC) almost half of the 11,111 Christians families who fled have returned to Qaraqosh.
Iraqi prime minister tells Christians to come home, but is it safe?
Author: Matt Hadro
Publication Date: 21/8/2020
Source: Catholic News Agency
The Iraqi prime minister has encouraged Christians displaced by ISIS to come home—but are the conditions right for a safe return? Catholic leaders and aid agencies say without stability and economic support, one of the world’s oldest Christian communities could become “a museum Church.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Urges Assyrians to Return to Iraq
Publication Date: 11/8/2020
Source: Assyrian International News Agency (AINA)
On Sunday, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, called for the return of Iraqi Christian immigrants to their country, especially after the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh).
