Category Archives: Christians in Middle East

The Chaldean Patriarch: from Iraqi Premier full support to the Christian communities

  By Friends of Iraq | November 7, 2014 - 6:00 pm | , ,
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Baghdad (Agenzia Fides) – A commitment, explicit and personal, to take charge of the defense of the Christian community in Iraq has been expressed by the Prime Minister of Iraq, Haider al Abadi, in the afternoon of Sunday, November 2 in a meeting with the leaders of the Christian Churches in Baghdad. This was reported to Agenzia Fides by Chaldean Patriarch Raphael Louis I, who led the delegation of Bishops and prelates received by the Premier. “In the 40-minute talk – says to Fides the Primate of the Chaldean Church … Continue reading →

Christian family flees to save their daughters from forced conversion to Islam

  By Friends of Iraq | September 12, 2014 - 6:10 pm |
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Lahore (Agenzia Fides) – To escape to save two Christian girls from being converted to Islam: this is the tragic solution adopted by Nadeem Maqbol (45 years old) and by his wife, Nabeela Nadeem, a Christian couple from Lahore.   Their story, sent to Fides by Catholics involved in the “Justice and Peace” Commission of the local church, is exemplary for the widespread conversion of girls and Christian girls. The two have a son (Ngam, 14 years old) and two daughters Noor-e-Sahar (12 years old) and Nisha (8 years old). … Continue reading →

How donations are been distributed

  By Friends of Iraq | August 28, 2014 - 8:44 pm | , , , ,
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Many people has written to us asking who are we and how have been distributed the donations they send us, so here is the answer to have everything clear. People who read our blog know that we are two Argentinean priests belonging to the Institute of the Incarnate Word who are blogging and managing the facebook page. Fr. Jorge Cortes IVE, the community’s superior, is also the Dioceses’ Vicar. Fr. Luis Montes iVE, is Baghdad’s Latin Cathedral “St. Joseph and Saint Therese of Child Jesus” parish priest. They both arrived … Continue reading →

Latin Patriarchate Appeals for Donations on Behalf of Iraqi Christians

  By Friends of Iraq | August 27, 2014 - 9:24 pm | , , ,
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Warns That Christianity in Iraq is Being “Wiped Out” By Staff Reporter JERUSALEM, August 25, 2014 (Zenit.org) – The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has appealed for donations to help thousands of Iraqi Christians who have been forced to leave their homeland by the Islamic State. In a communique issued Friday, the general administrator of the patriarchate, Father Imad Twal, said the country’s Christians are “really struggling” to obtain the basic necessities of life, and need funds to educate their children and to travel. “This is one of the worst displacements … Continue reading →

My mission among the sufferings of the Iraqi brothers

  By Friends of Iraq | August 24, 2014 - 8:32 am | , , , , , , , , , ,
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Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, who returned from Iraq last night after his visit as personal envoy of Pope Francis, met the Pope this morning to inform him about the mission entrusted to him.  In the following interview, the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation told Fides Agency about the meetings and impressions that marked the days spent in the devastated Middle Eastern CountryEminence, your visit was an emergency humanitarian trip which involved Christians and the other inhabitants of … Continue reading →

Faith of Iraqi Christians called unbreakable, despite persecution

  By Friends of Iraq | August 23, 2014 - 4:35 pm | , ,
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Erbil, Iraq, Aug 22, 2014 / 04:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Iraqi Christians’ faith is not diminished, even as they face exile from their homes and profound suffering, an official with a Catholic pastoral charity has said after visiting Kurdistan, where many have taken refuge.“The faith is the reason for their lives. And despite the persecution, children wear rosaries around their necks and the people do not hide their tattoos of crosses or their medals that identify them as Christians,” Maria Lozano, adjunct communications director for Aid to the Church in … Continue reading →

Terror and statistics

  By Friends of Iraq | August 22, 2014 - 11:57 am | , , , , ,
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The number of victims in Iraq is chilling. The damage that is occurring to these lives in this country and ultimately in the world is irreparable. It is a nameless tragedy. Given that the news that you receive is so terrible, yet the reality of it gets lost in the statistics. It’s too big for our mind to comprehend. Therefore I would like to tell you the situation which I heard about today of a family. This is to put a face to the tragedy. Not in the sense that … Continue reading →

Act now before it’s too late

  By Friends of Iraq | August 16, 2014 - 4:29 pm | , ,
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“If the situation does not change, the whole world should take responsibility [for] a slow genocide of an entire component ofIraqi society and its age-old culture.” – Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako of Baghdad By John Pontifex IRAQ’S most senior Christian leader has declared that the US and the EU have a moral obligation to flush out jihadist forces from the Nineveh plains and enable communities to return to their ancestral homes. In a statement today (Wednesday, 13th August 2014), Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako of Baghdad calls … Continue reading →

Pope sends letter to UN Secretary General, makes urgent appeal for assistance in Iraq

  By Friends of Iraq | August 16, 2014 - 4:18 pm | , , , , , ,
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Pope Francis is asking the United Nations to take action to stop the violence in Iraq. In a letter addressed to the UN’s Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, the Pope makes an urgent appeal for security, peace and assistance to refugees in Northern Iraq. This as Christians and other minorities continue to be targeted and forced out of their homes. In the letter, he also calls on the UN and its member countries to exercise the humanitarian laws in place. Furthermore, he asks for assistance and solidarity to help the displaced … Continue reading →