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Iraqi Christians on Wednesday called off Christmas festivities across the country as al-Qaida insurgents threatened more attacks on a beleaguered community still terrified from a bloody siege at a Baghdad church two months earlier. A council representing Christian denominations across Iraq advised its followers to cancel public Christmas celebrations out of concern over new terror attacks and as a show of mourning for the victims of the church siege and other violence.

The jihad against the Christians of Iraq continues apace, yet the world community continues to look the other way. "Iraq: Death threats continue to menace nation's Christians," from AKI, November 26 (thanks to C. Cantoni): Baghdad Nov. 26 (AKI) - Fresh death threats against Christians residing in Iraq are terrorising families and inciting them to flee, according to reports from 'al-Hayat' newspaper, which cites interviews from Iraqi security officials. Seven hand written messages for which Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility were found in various locations throughout the city, Abdullah al-Nawafili, a Christian community leader in the Iraqi capitol, Baghdad confirmed. "Threats...

Cardinal Francis George, speaking at the fall meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, told those assembled that the two priests slain in the Syrian Catholic cathedral on October 31 were killed while offering Mass and hearing confessions. “Our brothers in the priesthood, Father Thaer Saad and Father Boutros Wassim, were slain as one celebrated Mass and the other heard confessions,” Cardinal George said. “Father Thaer prayed and asked a terrorist to spare the lives of his parishioners before he died. Father Raphael [a third priest] moved parishioners to a safer location in the Church and was grievously...

A series of bomb blasts targeting Christians in Baghdad has killed at least three people and injured two dozen more, security sources have said. At least 14 roadside bombs were detonated and a mortar round was fired in Christian districts across the Iraqi capital last night and early this morning. An interior ministry source told Reuters that the attacks were a “continuation” of the massacre at Our Lady of Salvation church which killed dozens of worshippers last week. According to one report, today’s bombings targeted the family of one of the victims of the massacre. The Islamic State of Iraq...

The martyr in their midst was known all around the area. But in case anyone had missed it, a mourning sign had been posted outside Saad Adwar's house in the Baghdad suburb of Kampsar, revealing exactly where he lived. It said simply that Adwar had been killed "by the hand of a spiteful and hateful enemy while he prayed to his holy God in Our Lady of Salvation church" nine days ago. This morning, the terrorists who had killed 44 of Baghdad's Christians at their place of worship, came hunting them once more – this time in their homes. They...

BAGHDAD — Blood still smeared the walls of Our Lady of Salvation Church on Monday. Scraps of flesh remained between the pews. It was the worst massacre of Iraqi Christians since the war began here in 2003. But for survivors, the tragedy went deeper than the toll of the human wreckage: A fusillade of grenades, bullets and suicide vests had unraveled yet another thread of the country’s once eclectic fabric. “We’ve lost part of our soul now,” said Rudy Khalid, a 16-year-old Christian who lived across the street. He shook his head. “Our destiny, no one knows what to say...

The Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaeda off-shoot in Iraq, said in a statement on Wednesday that its network intends to target all Christian institutions. On Sunday, the group killed 58 civilians and security officers and wounded 67 others, after storming the Our Lady of Salvation church in central Baghdad during mass to take the congregants hostage. During the siege, the militants demanded the release of two Egyptian females who had allegedly sought conversion to Islam but were detained by the Egyptian Coptic Church. The group issued a 48-hour deadline to the Egyptian church to publicize the condition of the...

Deputy Interior Minister Lt. General Hussein Kamal reported the latest figures, which nearly doubled initial figures, on Monday, saying that the toll only included hostages and police officers, not the militants behind siege of Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad. Initial reports put the number of gunmen at around a dozen – at least five of which were killed along with the others when some of the explosives they were carrying went off. The explosion occurred as security officers stormed the church around 9 p.m. to bring to an end the roughly four-hour standoff. The ten or so militants...

One of the first things that your GetReligionistas do when preparing a post in our WordPress software is to head over to the “Categories” function box and click all of the relevant choices for how we want this item stored in our archives. It’s a far from perfect process that keeps raising questions. For example, “Are Pentecostals really evangelicals?” Or how about, “OK, I know that Jordan is in the Middle East. But how about Iraq and Iran? How close is close enough? Do I really need to create ANOTHER new category?” In the world of Christianity, there are some...

The church targeted by armed men on Sunday was one of five hit in co-ordinated attacks in August 2004 [AFP] Iraqi security forces with help from US forces have ended a siege by armed men who took scores of worshippers hostage in a Baghdad church after shooting dead two guards at the nearby stock exchange building.The release of the Christian hostages came just minutes after church and government officials said earlier that security forces were about to launch a rescue operation.The Vatican earlier called for a swift resolution to Sunday's hostage crisis through a spokesman."Helicopters are on the scene and our forces are getting ready to try...

A Muslim leader is calling on the Iraqi government and US-led forces to step up their efforts to protect the Christian minority in Iraq from extinction. Navaid Hamid, Secretary of the South Asian Council for Minorities (SACM) and a Muslim, said the deadly attack last weekend on a church in Baghdad was a heinous crime that should be strongly condemned by the international community. “With the murderous attack, the safety of Iraq’s Christian minority has become critical and it is the prime responsibility not only of the regime in Baghdad but also that of the allied forces led by [the]...

(Photo: Mourners at a 2 Nov 2010 funeral for victims of the attack on the Our Lady of Salvation Church/Saad Shalash)With al-Qaeda declaring war on Christians in Iraq and no end to political instability in sight, Catholic experts on the Middle East fear the fate of the minority Christian community there will only worsen. The pessimism followed the bloodiest attack against Iraq’s Christian minority since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Fifty-two hostages and police were killed on Sunday when security forces stormed a church that had been raided by al-Qaeda-linked gunmen. The bloodbath struck fear deep into the hearts of remaining...

BAGHDAD — To get to Mass at Our Lady of Salvation Church on Sunday, worshipers had to pass through a blockade of police trucks, past armed sentries on the rooftop, and through a security checkpoint where they were frisked for weapons and explosives. Some came in mourning black, many in tears, most in a spirit of quiet defiance. Worshipers and others showing solidarity gathered at Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad on Sunday, where the names of victims were displayed in the sanctuary and outlined in candles. “This gives us more strength,” said Sama Wadie, 32, a teacher, his...

They gathered in Our Lady of Salvation Catholic Church for an evening Mass. They are members of an increasingly besieged and forgotten minority in Iraq, Catholic Christians. Their herosm and love for the Lord has inspired them to continue to practice the ancient faith in the midst of what is a steadily deteriorating situation for them in this land they have called home for centuries. Our Lady of Salvation Church is no stranger to violence. Churches have been bombed before in Iraq, including Our Lady of Salvation. The Christian faithful have had to contend with an increasingly hostile culture. However,...

Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan. Credit: Sryo-Catholic Diocese of Mosul. Beirut, Lebanon, Feb 25, 2010 / 01:48 pm (CNA).- The Patriarch of the Syro-Catholic Church sent an urgent letter to the Iraqi Prime Minister on Wednesday pleading for government intervention to establish peace and security for Iraqi Christians, especially those in Mosul. The message is accompanied by news of peaceful protests from the area's Christians in the coming weeks.Translated portions of the text written by Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan, based in Beirut, Lebanon, to Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri Al-Maliki were sent to CNA by a priest from...

Baghdad, Iraq, Jul 14, 2009 / 03:21 am (CNA).- More than 40 people were killed or injured in renewed attacks on Christians in Baghdad on Sunday.Shortly after 7:00 on Sunday evening, a car bomb exploded in front of the gates of St. Mary’s Chaldean Catholic Church in Baghdad. The explosion occurred just as churchgoers left Mass.Seven were killed and around 30 were injured, with 18 requiring hospital treatment, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reports.Bombs reportedly went off at three other Baghdad churches around 4:30 pm, two of which were St. George’s Church in the Al-Ghadier section and St....

Baghdad (AsiaNews) – Fr Saad Hanna Sirop, the Chaldean Catholic priest freed Monday evening after 27 days in captivity, “was threatened and tortured”, another Iraqi priest, a fellow student, told AsiaNews. “He is really tired and exhausted. He was threatened and tortured. He’ll be able to talk about his painful and fearful experiences later.”Father Saad was preparing to leave for Rome when he was kidnapped. He was coming to receive his university diploma after he obtained his theology degree three years ago at the Pontifical Urbaniana University.“He is free and now is doing well. This is the only thing that...

Beirut, Lebanon -- Christians continue to flee Iraq because of religious persecution, even as some Iraqi church leaders are calling on their compatriots to return home. The church leaders fear that Iraq will become emptied of Christians if the mass exodus continues, leading some of them to issue calls to return that have angered refugees. "The Muslims of Daura are calling on Christians to come back," the Chaldean bishop of Baghdad, Monsignor Andraos Abouna, told Newsmax in an exclusive interview in Beirut this week. The Daura neighborhood of Baghdad has been the scene of mass persecution of Christians since the...

Hear the voice of a Christian Martyr singing a hymn in Arabic to the Blessed Mother, while watching a slideshow of his funeral mass. Hear the angelic voice of Father Ragheed Ganni, a 35 year old Chaldean Catholic Priest killed on Sunday June 3rd, 2007 with three of his deacons right after celebrating mass at Holy Spirit Chaldean Catholic Church in Mosul, Iraq. The car of Father Ragheed and the three deacons was stopped by terrorists shortly after leaving the church. They were forced to get down from the car and asked to declare their conversion to Islam. When the...