Iraq Christians Should Return Home

Iraq's Top Christian Cleric
Appeals to Christians to Return Home

By Jeremy Reynalds

ROME (ANS) -- Iraq's top Christian cleric, Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad Emmanuel Karim-Delly, on Friday urged thousands of Iraqi Christians who have fled the country because of violence to return home.

Karim-Delly made the appeal in Rome where he will be inducted as Iraq's first cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in a ceremony in St. Peter's Square on Saturday.

Earthtimes.org news service reported that speaking at a news conference, the 80-year-old patriarch described his elevation to cardinal as an honor for "all Iraqis and not just Christians."

Karim-Delly said he had assured Iraqi leaders he would continue to use his position "to convince those who have left Iraq to return and help build the country."

According to Earthtimes.org, the mostly Chaldean Christians still living in Iraq are now estimated to number 600,000; compared to the 1.2 million living in the country before Saddam Hussein's 2003 overthrow.

The Baghdad patriarch said he had recently discussed with members of Iraq's Shiite Muslim-dominated government measures on safeguarding Iraq's Christian community, which makes up around 3 per cent of the population.

Earthtimes.org reported that asked by a reporter for details on the measures discussed, the patriarch declined to answer, but said the situation in "tortured Iraq" was gradually improving.

He also said several churches forced to shut down because of the sectarian violence had recently reopened their doors.

Karim-Delly in the past has denounced, Earthtimes.org reported, what he called the "persecution" of Christians in Iraq, but on Friday he was more conciliatory toward the Baghdad government.

Iraqi leaders had given him "full support" as shown by a government delegation headed by Human Rights Minister Wijdan Mikhail Salim, herself a Chaldean, who will attend Saturday's ceremony.

"He has done all Iraqis proud," Earthtimes.org reported the minister said.

Karim-Delly is to be made a cardinal along with 22 other clerics at Saturday's ceremony.

Earthtimes.org said that Benedict has repeatedly expressed concern over conditions faced by Christians in Islamic countries, and the decision to promote the Iraqi cleric to cardinal is widely seen as one more opportunity for the pontiff to draw attention to the issue.

Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and director of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org or http://www.christianity.com/joyjunction. He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "Homeless in the City: A Call to Service." Additional details about "Homeless" are available at http://www.HomelessBook.com

ASSIST News Service (ANS)