Free Republic

Church Saddam built prays for his ousterAs war rages, terror alarms go off dailyLatwp Detroit, March 26: Sacred Heart Church on Seven Mile Road is the church Saddam Hussein built. In 1980, Reverend Jacob Yasso flew to Baghdad and met with Hussein, who wanted to help Iraqi Christians who had come to America. That year, Hussein sent $1.5 million to cover the church’s debt and build a social hall and day-care centre. Last Friday, 450 parishioners gathered at Sacred Heart for a service. They prayed for Hussein’s overthrow. They also prayed for a miracle — that loved ones who disappeared...

How Hussein Keeps Control Of Iraq's Religious Rivalries Myriad Ethnic and Religious Tensions Could Boil Over in a Post-Hussein IraqBy HUGH POPEStaff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL MOSUL, Iraq -- Iraq's Christians have a nightmare scenario that unfolds from a U.S. attack aimed at overthrowing President Saddam Hussein. They recently got a taste of it.As a group of nuns arrived for their initiation vows at a church in this northern Iraqi town two months ago, Muslim boys taunted the congregation, says Jshleymon Warduni, a leading Christian bishop in Baghdad. Christian youths responded in kind. More Muslims arrived, armed with...

Indigenous Peoples Under the Rule of Islam (c) Frederick P. IsaacExcerpt republished with kind permission of authorPREFACE This book has been in the process of writing for over 10 years. Since I left Iraq in the summer of 1964 and my immigration from Kuwait in 1971, I have closely followed the events that have developed in the Islamic world. Being an Assyrian national, I found that life in Iraq was unbearably difficult due to my indigenous nationality. Nor were my experiences unique, but were instead shared by many other Assyrians from Iraq and other Islamic countries. The injustice of my...

VATICAN CITY, JULY 22, 2002 (Zenit.org).- In a message addressed to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, John Paul II said he prays for peace in that country and in the region. According to a report of the official agency INA, the Holy Father's message was sent on the 34th anniversary of the Baath Party's coming to power. In his message, the Pope said that he "implores God to bless Iraq and its people, and to make peace reign in the region." On numerous occasions, John Paul II has urged the United Nations to end the embargo imposed on Iraq since 1990....