Iraq
Iraq :Iraq's Christians Consider Their Future After Deadly Attack
The latest attack, on the 31st of October, on Iraq's dwindling Christian community, which left 58 people dead, and warnings by al-Qaeda that more killings will follow, is raising questions about the future of one of the oldest Christian congregations in the Middle East.
Five suicide bombers took an entire congregation hostage at Our Lady of Salvation, one of the largest of the Syrian Catholic churches in Baghdad shortly after mass on the 31st of October. They shot dead some of the worshipers, including two priests, before setting off their explosive belts when Iraqi security forces stormed the church a few hours later. Nearly 100 people were injured. The attack, claimed by an Al-Qaeda-linked group called the Islamic State of Iraq, was the deadliest recorded against Iraq's Christians. "The Ministry of War in the Islamic State of Iraq announces that all Christian institutions, organizations, centres, leaders and followers are legitimate targets for the Mujahedin [holy warriors] wherever they can find them," the statement in Arabic said.
According to research by German NGO "The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP)," more than three-quarters of the original 400,000 Christians of Baghdad have fled the city since 2003. Many of those who remain avoid attending mass or sending their children to Christian schools.
Pray that God will intervene in Iraq's chaos to protect and deliver His Church and will confuse, frustrate, and mortally weaken the enemy.
Pray that the worshipers at Our Lady of Salvation that were viciously attacked by the Muslim extremists will quickly recover while not harboring bitterness and that the families that lost loved ones by murder will be consoled.
Pray that the government will be firm in protecting Christians from persecution and that it will also bring those responsible for the barbarous murders to justice.
The latest attack, on the 31st of October, on Iraq's dwindling Christian community, which left 58 people dead, and warnings by al-Qaeda that more killings will follow, is raising questions about the future of one of the oldest Christian congregations in the Middle East.
Five suicide bombers took an entire congregation hostage at Our Lady of Salvation, one of the largest of the Syrian Catholic churches in Baghdad shortly after mass on the 31st of October. They shot dead some of the worshipers, including two priests, before setting off their explosive belts when Iraqi security forces stormed the church a few hours later. Nearly 100 people were injured. The attack, claimed by an Al-Qaeda-linked group called the Islamic State of Iraq, was the deadliest recorded against Iraq's Christians. "The Ministry of War in the Islamic State of Iraq announces that all Christian institutions, organizations, centres, leaders and followers are legitimate targets for the Mujahedin [holy warriors] wherever they can find them," the statement in Arabic said.
According to research by German NGO "The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP)," more than three-quarters of the original 400,000 Christians of Baghdad have fled the city since 2003. Many of those who remain avoid attending mass or sending their children to Christian schools.
Pray that God will intervene in Iraq's chaos to protect and deliver His Church and will confuse, frustrate, and mortally weaken the enemy.
Pray that the worshipers at Our Lady of Salvation that were viciously attacked by the Muslim extremists will quickly recover while not harboring bitterness and that the families that lost loved ones by murder will be consoled.
Pray that the government will be firm in protecting Christians from persecution and that it will also bring those responsible for the barbarous murders to justice.
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