Despite defeat of IS, Christianity still facing extinction in Iraq

Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil stated: “Christianity in Iraq, one of the oldest Churches, is perilously close to extinction.”

Archbishop Warda told the charity Aid to the Church in Need that Iraq’s Christian presence has been decimated over the last two decades.

He said: “In the years prior to 2003, we numbered as many as one-and-a-half million – six percent of Iraq’s population. Today, there are perhaps as few as 250,000 of us left, maybe less. Those of us who remain must be ready to face martyrdom.”

Archbishop Warda said that, although Daesh – or ISIS – has been driven out of northern Iraq, the ideology it spawned is still present.

“The defeat of Daesh has not seen the defeat of the idea of the re-establishment of the Caliphate.

“And with this idea of the Caliphate there comes all the formal historical structures of intentional inequality and discrimination against non-Muslims.

“I speak here not only of Iraq. We see leaders in other countries in the Middle East who are clearly acting in a way consistent with the re-establishment of the Caliphate.”

Speaking about the Daesh invasion that led to the displacement of more than 125,000 Christians and the loss of their homes and businesses, he said: “Our tormentors confiscated our present while seeking to wipe out our history and destroy our future.

“This was an exceptional situation, but not an isolated…