Resources
Iranian Christian Priest: Converts Living a Half-Life in Iran
Author: Maryam Dehkordi
Publication Date: 25/5/2021
Source: IranWire
Reverend Behnam Irani describes himself as a member of the “Church of Iran”. As a Christian convert and ex-Muslim, he was arrested and threatened countless times and faced six years in prison for his peaceful work spreading the gospel inside Iran. Having since left for good in 2016, he told IranWire about the strife his fellow Christians suffer in the country for expressing their faith.
Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops: sanctions against Damascus "to be removed", Palestinians victims of "brutal aggression". And they thank the Pope
Publication Date: 21/5/2021
Source: Agencia fides
The economic sanctions of Western countries against Assad's Syria, culminating in the so-called "Caesar Act" issued by the US Administration led by Donald Trump, are unjust and must be removed, as well as the repressive practices and "brutal aggression" suffered by Palestinians in the Holy Land. The Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops strongly hope for this, gathered from 18 to 20 May in Aleppo, at the headquarters of the Apostolic Vicariate for Catholics of the Latin rite, to take part in the annual session of the Council of Heads of Catholic Churches present in Syria.
An Unwelcome Minority Threats Facing Christianity in the Middle East
Publication Date: 14/5/2021
Source: Persecution - International Christian Concern
Christians are too often regarded as an unwelcome minority in the Middle East. One need not look very far to realize that fact. However, not only are they an unwelcome minority, but they are actively being persecuted, killed, and dispelled from the region in an attempt to create a fully Islamic sphere of influence, and those who wish to see them gone are, unfortunately, seeing a large amount of success.
Will Iraq’s Historic Churches Be Restored?
Publication Date: 25/5/2021
Source: Persecution
Historic churches in Iraq are battered by the harsh environment and years of conflict. Yet is the continued government negligence that leaves them crumbling, deteriorating, and therefore potentially disqualified for even the UNESCO Tentative List of heritage sites.
No water, no jobs: ISIL survivors struggle in northern Iraq
Author: Michal Kranz
Publication Date: 29/5/2021
Source: Al Jazeera
When Father Ammar Yako, a Syriac Catholic priest in the majority-Assyrian Christian town of Qaraqosh in northern Iraq, returned to his church in 2016 he found its floors covered in rubble and its artwork pillaged.
After two years of control by the armed group ISIL (ISIS), Qaraqosh, including the Great Immaculate Church where Yako preaches, had been subjected to looting and urban warfare before it was recaptured by Iraqi security forces and allied militias.
Turkey bombs Christian villages in Iraq’s Kurdish region - analysis
Author: Seth J. Frantzman
Publication Date: 26/5/2021
Source: Jerusalem Post
Turkey continued its campaign of bombarding villages in northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region this week, reportedly damaging homes and a church of local Christian minorities.
Iraq's Upcoming Election Likely to Disenfranchise Indigenous Assyrians
Author: Neil Joseph Nakkash
Publication Date: 12/5/2021
Source: Newsweek
Recently, Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) canceled election participation for citizens abroad, disenfranchising nearly 1 million Iraqi citizens in advance of early parliamentary elections set for October. In a public statement, IHEC announced that the ruling comes as a result of "several technical and financial, legal, and health obstacles" that could prevent applicants abroad from receiving their biometric voting cards by Election Day.
Fr Samir: the 'angels of the pandemic' for Christians and Muslims suffering from Covid
Author: Samir Youssef
Publication Date: 12/5/2021
Source: Asia News
Contracting the virus "is a bit like a social stigma: before they tried to hide cancer" while now, if one is ill, they prefer to say that "it is a tumour to conceal Covid-19". This is the testimony, entrusted to AsiaNews, by Fr. Samir Youssef, parish priest of Enishke, in the diocese of Amadiya (Iraqi Kurdistan), which has recently experienced an escalation of infections. The priest experienced the illness firsthand, as did his mother who entrusted herself to prayer in moments of difficulty. "Christian charity", he continues, is fundamental in the need that has manifested itself thanks to the voluntary commitment of dozens of young people who have come to the aid of Christian and Muslim families forced into isolation because they are infected.
