Church Outraged By Christian Genocide In Iraq, Where Is The Commander-In-Chief?
An Australian Bishop from the diocese of Melbourne has confirmed that a genocide against Christians is very much underway in Iraq, or in his words, the “merciless and barbaric acts of genocide” against Christians in Mosul and across Iraq. Coptic Orthodox Church Bishop Anba Suriel is asking why world leaders are ignoring the plight of Christians in the Middle East as ISIS sweeps across massive areas of land slaughtering men, woman and children. The Bishop advised:
“If we do not take a strong stance against these crimes against humanity, it is only a matter of time before such fundamentalism infects the entire world. Mosul, the cradle of Christianity in Iraq since the first centuries, is now purged of its entire Christian population. The ruthless and purposeful savagery of the attacks by the fundamentalist Muslim terrorist organization The Islamic State (IS), formerly known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), is truly inconceivable.”
In an effort to draw the world’s attention towards the plight of Christians in Muslim countries, he pointed out the strange reality that world leaders have remained mainly silent on the issue:
“Most world leaders remain silent in the face of the murder of innocent children and horrific beheadings of civilians. We question why the media has not highlighted the unprecedented systematic eradication of the city’s entire Christian population.”
It seems that the media picks and chooses the violence around the world that it thinks will make the “best” story. For example, during Israel’s recent defensive war against the Hamas terror organization in Gaza, the media was obsessed every time a Palestinian human shield was killed by an Israeli retaliatory attack. Yet, the beheading of Syrian soldiers and the terrible abuse that Christians have faced recently in the Middle East has, for the most part, been totally ignored. And when it has been reported, thus far, the media have failed to report the incidents with enough outrage, pretending it’s just another piece of news. Bishop Suriel isn’t the only church leader to plead with the world to do something about the ethnic cleansing of Christians in Iraq. Patriarch Louis Sako, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, spoke about the way Christians are being treated by ISIS in the Iraqi town of Qaraqosh and its surrounding villages: “The Christians, about 100,000, horrified and panicked, fled their villages and houses with nothing but the clothes on their back,” he said, as reported by Catholic News Service. Yesterday, closer to home, Patriarch Sako said that the United States has a duty to help Christians in Iraq: “Due to their prior involvement in Iraq, the European Union, and the league of Arab countries have the responsibility to act quickly for a solution.” Let’s hope world leaders wake up soon to the real and vicious threat faced by Christians all over the Muslim nations of the world.
