Chaldean Bishop of Baghdad: Our worst fears have been confirmed

22 Jul 2014
Marta Petrosillo

"We are speechless, because what has happened is utterly shocking. Christians have been in Mosul for centuries, and now these families have been summarily evicted from their city, from their homes, from their lives. We are profoundly concerned for the future of the Christians in this country." Such was the horrified reaction of Auxiliary Bishop Saad Syroub in the face of recent events in Mosul. The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) spoke to the Chaldean auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, by telephone on Friday 18th July.

The jihadists of ISIS (The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) have forced the few remaining Christians in this, the second city of Iraq, to leave their homes. Desperate, the Christians immediately fled, but were then stopped at the military checkpoints by ISIS militias, who robbed them of their cars and all their possessions, telling them they must continue on foot. Most of the families headed north, towards the town of Dahuk.

"It has never happened before that the Christians were chased from their own homes as if they had no rights at all", the bishop added. "Unfortunately, however, this is the reality today in Iraq, above all in Mosul." Bishop Syroub explained to ACN that during the last few days the jihadists had begun writing on all the Christian homes the words "Property of ISIS". Next to it they wrote, circled in red, the letter N – the initial letter of the Arabic word "nasara", meaning "Christians"... the rest

"It has never happened before that the Christians were chased from their own homes as if they had no rights at all", the bishop added.