Monthly Archives: December 2008

Two men in Santa Claus suits and one dressed as a clown wave to people from a church balcony in Ainkawa town, west of Erbil city, on December 24. GLOBE PHOTO / Wahid Ismael By Qassim Khidhir The Kurdish Globe Mosul Christians celebrate “brotherly, peaceful” holiday…

Leaders around the globe sent holiday greetings Wednesday, though some differed markedly in their tone and message. From News Services > President George W. Bush. Bush phoned U.S. troops stationed around the world from Camp David, wishing them a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and…

CNN) — The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom cited several examples in a recent report of abuse toward Christians in Iraq. Iraqis rush to a car bomb explosion at a Christian church in Kirkuk in January.…

VATICAN CITY (AFP) — War and economic hardship loomed over Christmas celebrations across the world on Thursday, with Pope Benedict XVI pleading for an end to “hatred and violence” in the Middle East.…

By Missy Ryan BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Rushing to Christmas mass, Iraqis in their Sunday best hurried into Baghdad’s Sacred Heart church, pausing just long enough so a uniformed security guard could pat them down for suicide vests or dangerous weapons.…

By Joe Sterling CNN (CNN) — It’s a bittersweet Christmas season for Joseph Kassab, who grew up in Iraq under Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime and now lives in Detroit, Michigan. Tempering the season’s joy is his concern for fellow Iraqi Christians, who have endured killings, displacement and daily intimidation.…

Eastern Nearly 500,000 Christians who fled Iraq because of attacks by al-Qaida or other Islamic fundamentalists now are being encouraged to return by a Christian organization that is working to get financial support from the Iraqi government to rebuild homes and lives.…

Red carpets have been rolled out in Damascus over the past few days for an unusual visitor — General Michel Aoun, observes Dyab Abu Jahjah ——————————————————————————– Aoun has been Syria’s arch enemy in Lebanon for 17 years and when Syria pulled its army back out of the country in 2005, following the assassination of former…

ACN News, Monday, 22nd December 2008 – IRAQ Christmas offerings bring comfort and joy ACN hampers are distributed to victims of persecution By John Pontifex AID to the Church in Need food parcels packed with Christmas goodies have gone out to more than 750 families in Iraq who fled persecution at risk to their lives.…

January 26th, 2008 “I have a new friend: an Iraqi Chaldean priest” The project: “I have a new friend, an Iraqi Chaldean priest” launched by the Pastoral Migrants Office of Archdiocese of Turin (Italy) to support the Iraqi Christian community with an annual direct aid to ten young Chaldean priests in Baghdad reached its conclusion…

The Bishop of Norwich, the Right Rev. Graham James: speaking out on plight of Iraqi Christians SHAUN LOWTHORPE The Bishop of Norwich last night launched a thinly veiled attack on the government’s pursuit of war in Iraq claiming it had led to the persecution of fellow Christians in that country.…

Iraqi bishops tell AsiaNews about the climate in the country, on the eve of the holiday. Compared to the era of Saddam Hussein, there is greater freedom, but the danger of violence remains. The prelates emphasize the positive elements on the path of dialogue, and are asking the government for concrete steps in the protection…

The security success of the ‘surge’ in troops in Baghdad is allowing the city’s Christians to celebrate their holy season with the open joy of times past. By Tim Albone in Baghdad  Some Christian leaders estimate that only 100,000 Christians still live in Iraq – a huge decline from the pre-invasion level of 800,000 Photo:…

Hundreds of Christians have fled their homes in northern Iraq for the sanctuary of a monastery this Christmas after being targeted for their faith. By Angus McDowall in Irbil  The people of Mosul have also come under attack from al-Qaeda fighters. Photo: AP In peaceful times, the cool mountain air and breathtaking views afforded by…

By Jill Dougherty CNN BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — From a distance, it looks like an apparition: a huge multi-colored hot-air balloon floating in the Baghdad sky, bearing a large poster of Jesus Christ. Below it, an Iraqi flag.…

by Michael A. DeVine, Charlotte Law & Civil Rights Examiner  Below are my predictions for 2008 made on New Year’s Eve, 2007 at several websites where I have posted for years as “Gamecock”. Incredibly, my “Cockstradamus” alter ego was wrong on some predictions (right on more!), and I will address those specifically later this week…

Trying to prove just how much safer Baghdad is these days, Iraqi officials threw a party for Christians on Saturday, complete with huge event posters featuring pictures of Jesus Christ. A skinny Santa Claus draped in an Iraqi flag also made an appearance, waving and posing for photos.…

By: Judy West. A prominent British MP, Tory Catholic MP, Edward Leigh, has called on the British Government to urgently support the establishment of a self-governing province in northern Iraq for the AssyrianChaldean Christians and other communities living in the Nineveh Plain to jointly administer.…

News of the Year: “Pakistan may be one of the single most challenging places on the planet” | The Editors Associated Press/Photo by Emilio Morenatti The new year began with distraught Pakistanis rampaging through key cities in the week following the assassination and burial of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The rioters ransacked banks, waged…

Adelle M. Banks Religion News Service (RNS) — Iraq should be designated as a “country of particular concern” because its government tolerates the abuse of religious communities, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.…