Mosul archbishop: Christians still living in fear

The Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul has told Newsmax that Christians in Iraq’s second-largest city live in a state of constant fear. Most families that fled the city last autumn following anti-Christian violence have used up their savings and had to return, according to Archbishop Emil Shimoun Nona.

“There is always the fear. They know that they are targets.”

Local Christians face harassment from Kurdish security forces and are suffering from Iraqi political infighting. “I’m not denying there are religious extremists,” Archbishop Nona said, “but definitely, these Islamic fundamentalists are being used by politicians, so it’s a mix.”

“If world public opinion knew this, politicians in America could influence Iraq’s politicians to keep us out of their political struggle, since a major part of our problem is the political struggle amongst the Iraqi parties.”

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=9312