Christian presence vanishing from Iraq, Chaldean patriarch fears

Catholic World News – The exodus of Christians from Iraq is “frightening,” the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Baghad has warned.

“If measures are not taken soon, in 10 years’ time there will only be a few thousand Christians left in Iraq,” said Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako. He said that Christians have borne the brunt of the continued violence in Iraq, and thousands of families are leaving the country— often receiving encouragement from the West to abandon their native land, and finding little security in the face of death threats from Muslim militants.

The Chaldean leader pointed out that a few decades ago there were an estimated 600,000 Christians in the city of Baghdad alone. Now the entire Christian population of Iraq has dipped under 400,000, with the tide of emigration still continuing.

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