Posted on 08/04/2017 7:16:54 PM PDT by marshmallow
07/31/2017 Washington, D.C. (International Christian Concern) - The liberation of Mosul came after nine hard months of fighting and three brutish years of occupation. All eyes have fixated on this noteworthy event; however, just south in Baghdad, eight churches have been closed due to the significant loss of the Christian populace.
The eight Baghdad churches were closed in May of 2017, after nearly seven years of low to no attendance. After the regional Catholic Church authority visited the churches, the Vatican decided that it was best to close the doors for good. While this makes logistical sense, it represents a symbolic defeat for the Church in the capital of Iraq.
Christianity was once an integral part of the multifaceted religious fabric of Iraq. At the beginning of the 21st century, Christians made up 10% of the total population. The recent history of Iraq, however, reflects a steady stream of repression, conflict, displacement, and persecution.
“Christian immigration passed through three main stages,” a former resident of Baghdad told International Christian Concern (ICC). “The first was from 2005-2007, [the] second was in 2010 when some extremists attacked [a] church during Sunday mass and the third stage was in 2014 when ISIS attacked [the] Nineveh Plain.”
Christians in Baghdad were distributed within different neighborhoods under Saddam Hussein, some more homogeneous than others. Sectarian conflict and threats began in 2005. At first, the conflicts existed primarily between Sunni and Shia groups, but later, Sunni extremists started threatening Christian populations as well.
It was commonplace for Christians to receive envelopes containing bullets and a threat from nearby extremists. Messages promising bloodshed and death drove thousands of Christians from their homes in these neighborhoods.
(Excerpt) Read more at persecution.org ...
We had that many close right here in Upstate New York.
Give them the $26 trillion debt by that point. The joke is on Allah.
26 trillion dollar debt means nothing if you dont pay up. Might as well be 100 trillion or 2 bucks. No difference. Let’s do what Trump suggested in the campaign trail — default now. Start with the clean slate. F em.
No Kurdistan? No safe zone? Call it Turdistan.
I am surprised Trump has not found a way to let them in as refugees.
sounds to me like it’s time for the UN to start resettlement of the refugees. And arm the Christian ones.
Plus also in the Hartford Archdiocese as well, a number of parishes either close or merged.
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