Resources
Eight Iraqi churches on National Postal Service postage stamps
Publication Date: 30/9/2020
Source: Agenzia Fides
The Iraqi Postal Service has issued, for the first time, a series of stamps dedicated to celebrating the Country's churches. The series includes eight stamps, depicting historic churches of Iraq, located in various regions of the national territory and belonging to communities of different Christian denominations. The multicolored representations of the different churches are the work of Iraqi artist Saad Ghazi. The administration of the Iraqi Postal Service had a first set of 4,000 copies of the entire philatelic series printed and distributed in post offices.
Lebanon’s top Christian cleric patriarch warns of 'multiple dangers' without govt
Publication Date: 27/9/2020
Source: MEO (Middle East Online)
Patriarch Bechara says youth wanted new political class, calls for change echoed on streets of Beirut.
“Life after ISIS: New challenges for Christianity in Iraq
Institution: ACN International
Publication Date: 6/2020
AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED (ACN) has published a major report on the status of Christianity in northern Iraq, “Life after ISIS: New challenges for Christianity in Iraq.” It includes the results of a series of surveys of the Christian population. The study identifies the major challenges facing Iraqi Christians who returned to their hometowns on the Nineveh Plains, after fleeing the region for Kurdistan, following the ISIS invasion of the region in 2014.
Iraqi Christian appointed at the top of the National Investment Authority
Publication Date: 16/9/2020
Source: Agenzia Fides
Chaldean Christian Suha Daoud Elias al Najjar is the new President of the Iraqi National Investment Authority, a government body also involved in the management of resources made available by foreign investors for the national economic revival and reconstruction of conflict-devastated areas. The appointment of Suha al Najjar is part of the recent change at the top of government, financial, administrative and military institutions implemented in recent days by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, a reshuffle which also saw the replacement of the Governor of the Iraqi Central Bank and the appointment of the new Mayor of Baghdad.
Troop withdrawal leaves Iraqi Christians with one less safeguard
Author: Katey Hearth
Publication Date: 11/9/2020
Source: Mission Network News
Some 2,200 U.S. troops are leaving Iraq later this month, officials announced Wednesday, leaving 3,000 soldiers behind to support local authorities. It’s the first troop withdrawal from Iraq since 2016.
Kurdistan, Christian villages hit by Turkish raids against the PKK
Publication Date: 15/9/2020
Source: Asia News
Fear is growing among the inhabitants, including Christians, of Iraqi Kurdistan along the border with Turkey, the scene of heavy attacks by Ankara's air force against targets of the PKK (the Kurdish Workers' Party) refugees in the villages of the province north of Duhok. Fr. Samir Youssef, pastor of the diocese of Amadiya says "for months they have bombed our mountains to kill PKK members or attack the Kurds, regardless of whether they carry weapons, food or anything else ”.
Old Scars and New Wounds: Christians Comfort Lebanon’s Trauma
To a traumatized child, a teddy bear can make a big difference. But as the handful of Lebanese evangelicals trained in counseling are emphasizing in the aftermath of the Beirut explosion, so can an ordinary individual.
“I don’t think the sit-with-a-psychologist model works with a communal culture,” said Kate Mayhew, country representative for the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Lebanon.
Christianity has to be more than ‘an identity category’ in Lebanon, priest says
Author: Inés San Martín
Publication Date: 3/9/2020
Source: Crux Now
On Wednesday, Pope Francis announced he was sending Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, to Beirut on Sep. 4 to mark the one-month anniversary of the blast in the Lebanese capital’s port that killed at least 180 people and injured 6,000 others.
