Monthly Archives: January 2009

Baghdad, 30 Jan. (AKI) – Security for the Christian minority in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul has improved since the wave of sectarian violence there last year, according to the only Christian candidate running in Saturday’s provincial elections, Sami Habib Astifu. He spoke to Adnkronos International (AKI).…

(30 Jan 09 – RV) Pope Benedict met today with members of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. We have this report. Pope Benedict on Friday met members of the Joint International Commission for…

WASHINGTON,(UPI) — U.S. lawmakers called on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to take action to protect the Christian minority population in Iraq. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., a Chaldean Christian, and Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., a consultant to Congress’ Iraq Study Group, wrote Clinton on the need to support religious minorities in Iraq.…

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Despite signs of a new season of hope on the horizon in Iraq, the vast majority of Iraqi Christian refugees will probably not return to their homeland, said two U.S.-based Chaldean Catholic bishops.…

Arabs Hope to Curb Power Of Kurdish Government By Ernesto Londoño Washington Post Foreign Service QARAQOSH, Iraq — Iraq’s upcoming provincial elections have exacerbated tensions along the ethnically mixed frontier between the traditionally Arab parts of the country and its Kurdish autonomous region in the north…

Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani speaks to a press conference in this file photo. Barzani conducted a three-day visit to Shekhan and Duhok to meet with people representing minority communities in Ninewa. GLOBE PHOTO/Safin Hamed The Kurdish Globe…

A young man holds posters while his colleagues attach them to a wall in Erbil. GLOBE PHOTO/Safin Hamed By Qassim Khidhir The Kurdish Globe Kurds will lose a number of seats in the provincial councils of Mosul, Diyala, and Salahaddin as Sunnis extensively participate in the election, the Dawa Party and the…

A Baghdadi father, tortured and threatened with death, lives to tell the tale of his war-torn country By Ted Cox More stories by this author… About the author Ted Cox is a freelance writer who frequently contributes to the Sacramento News & Review.…

, Jan. 28 (UPI) — U.S. lawmakers called on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to take action to protect the Christian minority population in Iraq. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., a Chaldean Christian, and Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., a consultant to Congress’ Iraq Study Group, wrote Clinton on the need to support religious minorities in Iraq.…

An Al Qaeda-linked group was allegedly responsible for a violent attack on a Christian choir group in the Jordanian capital of Amman last July, authorities revealed Tuesday. The incident took place in a downtown Amman neighborhood. A gunman opened fire on a bus full of tourists, wounding six, including four Lebanese musicians from a university…

Arabs Hope to Curb Power Of Kurdish Government A wall in Baghdad is plastered with posters for provincial elections, scheduled for Saturday. North of Baghdad in Nineveh, Arabs are expected to win a majority over Kurds. (By Wathiq Khuzaie — Getty Images)…

Middle East Features By Shereen El-Gazzar and Abdelghani Yehia Mosul – Fifty three-year-old Umm Farah, a mother of three, had no choice but to flee from Mosul to Baghdad on a wintry night. Like many others, she says, she was subject to death threats simply because she is a Christian.…

Yesterday the Holy Father received prelates from the Chaldean Church, who have just completed their ad limina visit. In the course of their audience with the Pope, the bishops gave him a cape used by Archbishop Faraj Rahho of Mosul and a stole belonging to Fr Ragheed Aziz Ganni, both killed in Iraq over recent…

Bishops Present Him With Mementos of Slain Ministers VATICAN CITY, (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is encouraging Chaldean prelates to continue giving “courageous testimony” in the midst of difficulties, especially in Iraq. The Pope said this in an extensive discourse Saturday to Chaldean bishops in Rome…

 By: Edward Pentin An Iraqi Catholic bishop has decried the silence of the international community in the face of ongoing Christian persecution in Iraq, while another has called on Pope Benedict XVI to hold a major church council to address the problem of Christians fleeing the Middle East.…

Iraqis displaced by the war in their homeland are coming to the United States by the thousands. And Christians have a responsibility to care for them, faith leaders say. A Nashville congregation will host a forum on Iraqi refugees on Saturday, hoping to…

by Geries Othman Muslim leaders are trying to destroy it, and have sued the monastery for alleged proselytism. A spiritual and cultural center for the Syriac Orthodox, it still uses ancient Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus. During the 1960’s, at least 130,000 Syriacs lived in Tur Abdin. Today, there are only 3,000. The minority…

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Despite the dangers and difficulties Iraqi Christians are facing, the Chaldean Catholic Church must take an active role in bringing peace and harmony to Iraq by being a voice of moderation, Pope Benedict XVI said.…

The gifts were given at the concluding audience for the ad limina visit of the Chaldean bishops. Benedict XVI urges the promotion of education among young people, and coexistence with Muslims, defending equal rights for Christians and demanding security from the authorities. Concern over the refugees and emigrants. The value of the synod assembly, and…

 BosNewsLife Middle East Service with BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos BAGHDAD, IRAQ (BosNewsLife)– The leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI, has appealed to Iraqi authorities to defend minority Christians, after police confirmed that the Christian owner of a car repair shop was killed, execution-style, in Mosul.…