ISIS Closes In On Christians in Dramatic Overnight Development.

ISIS Closes In On Christians in Dramatic Overnight Development.

Pope, Iraq's Chaldean patriarch issue emergency appeals.

ISIS, the radical Islamist group that forced Christians out of Mosul with the threat of death, has taken control of most of the villages of the Nineveh Plain, the northern area where Iraqi Christians have hunkered down in what is appearing increasingly to look like ethnic cleansing.

In a statement in which the Vatican referst to "terrible developments," Pope Francis has called for help from the "international community."

"His Holiness urgently calls on the international community to protect all those affected or threatened by the violence, and to guarantee all necessary assistance—especially the most urgently needed aid—to the great multitude of people who have been driven from their homes, whose fate depends entirely on the solidarity of others," today's statment read."

The overnight development was reported in an urgent letter from Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako of the Chaldean Catholic Church.
 
“The ISIS militants attacked with mortars most of the villags of the plain of Nineveh, during the night of 6th-7th of August and now they are controlling the area,” Patriarch Sako said, writing from Baghdad today in a letter emailed to Aleteia partner Aid to the Church in Need.

The Associated Press, quoting "several priests in northern Iraq," reported that militants from the Islamic State group overran a cluster of predominantly Christian villages alongside the country's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, sending tens of thousands of civilians and Kurdish fighters fleeing from the area.

The capture of Qaraqoush, Iraq's biggest Christian village, and at least four other nearby hamlets, brings the Islamic State to the very edge of the Iraqi Kurdish territory and its regional capital, Irbil.

Irbil is one of the towns to which the Christian population of Northern Iraq, which stands at approximately 100,000, is fleeing, along with Duhok and Soulaymiyia, Patriarch Sako said. The veritable exodus, taking place under soaring temperatures, includes sick, elderly, infants and pregnant women, he said.

“They are facing a human catastrophe and risk a real genocide,” the Patriarch wrote. “They need water, food, shelter…”

Patriarch Sako said that churches and affiliated properties in the Christian villages are being occupied, and some are being destroyed and desecrated. The destruction includes the burning of old manuscripts and documents, he added.

The Islamic State has already seized large chunks of northern and western Iraq in a blitz offensive in June, including Iraq's second-largest city of Mosul. The onslaught has pushed Iraq into its worst crisis since the 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops.
The al-Qaida-breakaway group since has imposed a self-styled caliphate in territory it controls in Iraq and Syria, imposing its own harsh interpretation of Islamic law. Iraqi government forces and allied Sunni tribal militiamen have been struggling to dislodge the Islamic State militants with little apparent progress.

Bishop Joseph Tomas, who is based in the Kurdish-held city of Kirkuk, said the Islamic State pushed into Qaraqoush and four surrounding hamlets—Tilkaif, Bartella, Karamless and Alqosh—on Wednesday and was in control of them on Thursday.

Kurdish peshmerga units, which had protected the area, fled along with civilians, Bishop Tomas said. Other priests contacted by AP confirmed the information.

The raid started late Wednesday, and by 10pm, most Kurdish fighters had pulled out, said Father Gabriel, a resident of Alqosh.

The Christians and members of other minority groups ran for their lives, with tens of thousands heading to Kurdish northern Iraq, he added.

"All Christian villages are now empty," said Bishop Tomas.
http://www.aleteia.org/en/world/article/isis-close-in-on-christians-in-dramatic-overnight-development-5873274076528640

ISIS Pushing Christians Out of Iraq.

Will the world intervene?

 

As the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria takes up a new military campaign—apparently to gain ground in the oil-rich Kurdish area in northern Iraq—the U.S. military reportedly will conduct an emergency airdrop to aid members of a religious minority that is being pushed up against a wall.

Such an intervention would be aimed at helping the Yazidi religious minority besieged on a northern mountainside by the Sunni extremists, according to U.S. officials quoted by The Wall Street Journal.

Yazidis, who follow an ancient religion with ties to Zoroastrianism, are considered by ISIS as apostates. Their ancestral homeland is Sinjar, a district of Nineveh in northwest Iraq that ISIS took over on Sunday. 

Katrina Lantos Swett said this evening that the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) that she chairs is "heartened that the White House is considering additional steps that the US can take to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe facing tens of thousands of Yazidis, Christians and others."

"This is both a humanitarian and a human rights crisis and we encourage our government to exercise its unique and indispensable leadership role in rallying the responsible nations to address this dire situation," Lantos Swett said in a statement emailed to Aleteia.

The Journal said the Islamic State is "also imperiling other parts of northern Iraq in a rapid new advance that is also threatening the long-stable city of Erbil, the seat of the Kurdish regional government."

The US State Department issued a statment this afternoon condemning the actions of the Islamic militant group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

"The cold, calculated manner in which ISIL has targeted defenseless Iraqis, like Christians, solely because of their ethnic and religious identity, demonstrates a callous disrespect for human rights; it is nothing short of abominable," a Department spokeswoman, Pooja Jhunjhunwala, told Aleteia. "All those responsible for these abuses must be held fully accountable for their actions." 
 
"We are working intensively with the Government of Iraq, the Iraqi Security Forces, and the Kurdish Regional Government authorities in the immediate area to support their efforts to address the security threat and the challenging humanitarian situation in Ninewa, Sinjar, and elsewhere," Jhunjhunwala said. "We urge all Iraqi authorities and international partners to work with the United Nations and its partners to deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance as soon as possible. We support the work done by the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, and other international and local humanitarian partners to meet the most pressing needs of affected populations in Iraq, including shelter, food and water, blankets, and basic medicine. We are in regular contact with religious leaders in northern Iraq to assess the needs of the displaced people in their care and track delivery of assistance to these communities."

Pope Francis issued an emergency statement earlier today, as did Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako. The Chaldean Church in Baghdad issued a second statemnt today calling for a quick response to the emergency.

“We...call upon all for an individual and collective action...to ask for food and material assistance from the central government and create an air bridge to deliver emergency aid, as well as contact civil society organizations and bishops conferences quickly to provide assistance,” said the statement. 

The semiautonomous Kurdish region so far has been insulated from the militant takeover of parts of Iraq and a haven for the displaced from all over the country, the Journal said. But now ten

http://www.aleteia.org/en/world/article/world-waking-up-to-christian-genocide-in-iraq-5835592180957184

Iraq, 100,000 Christians fleeing jihadists "Initiates US raid." But the Pentagon denies

Iraq, 100,000 Christians fleeing jihadists "Initiates US raid." But the Pentagon denies

 

 

 

 

Iraq, 100,000 Christians fleeing jihadists "Initiates US raid." But the Pentagon denies
The State Islamic conquest of the area of Nineveh. Pope's appeal to the international community. Ban Ki-moon: "I'm upset, you have to intervene." Obama clears way for humanitarian aid
Tens of thousands of Christians fleeing. Women, children, the elderly, and with their priests and nuns, marching to try to find shelter after being forced to leave their homes, many even in pajamas and barefoot. This new horror scenario that exists today in northern Iraq, where the militia of the Islamic State (Isis), as modern Huns continue their advance that neither the army nor the Kurdish Peshmerga forces seem more able to stop. An "appeal to the international community" has been addressed by the Pope to "put an end to the humanitarian tragedy taking place and why it takes action to protect threatened by violence and ensure support to displaced people." An appeal that the Pope has launched the "conscience of all", while inviting us to pray all Christians and Churches. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon is "down in the field. "Deeply shocked" by the news of attacks by Isis, has appealed to the international community to support the government of the country, during an emergency meeting of the Security Council. The Secretary-General calls for "the international community, in particular those with the influence and resources to positively change the situation, are invited to support the government and people of Iraq, doing everything possible to help alleviate the suffering of the population. "

Meanwhile, the New York Times is reporting that at least two objectives Isis in northern Iraq were bombed by airplanes United States, but the Pentagon denies flatly. "The items that the United States has conducted aerial bombings in Iraq are completely false. No action was taken, "said spokesman John Kirby. Even the Wall Street Journal reports the claims of the Kurdish defense minister, Anwar You Othman, according to which US military operations are already underway and some US fighters would hit targets in the plains of Sinjar in northern Iraq, and close to the Kurdish city of Ebril, in the province of Gwair. Sources cited by the government in Baghdad CNN have instead claimed that all the bombings against the forces of Isis are conducted in this phase of the Iraqi air force.

The Pentagon has confirmed that the cargo planes instead Use are already in the area for the launch aid food and medicine to the people trapped. The go-ahead came from President Obama. It is not when the mission will be completed, but the Pentagon do know that there is some concern about reports of at least 40 American soldiers in Erbil that may be threatened by ISIS.

In the international community, France was the first to respond: first, asking for an urgent convocation of the UN Security Council, which meets later in the evening, and then confirming "its readiness to lend support 'to' forces in Iraq are engaged "in the fight against Islamic extremists. Was reported by the state Elisha after a phone call between President Francois Hollande and President of the Kurdistan Regional Government Massoud Barzani, whose forces are now virtually alone in trying to stop the advance of the Isis in the province of Nineveh. But, according to the New York Times, even President Barack Obama is considering air strikes on militant jihadists. "There will be no American troops in Iraq. Any military action will be limited in its goals, "he explained, however, the White House spokesman, Josh Earnest, reiterating Obama's position that" there is no military solution to the Iraq crisis: what is needed is a solution politics. "

"Plunder, ravage, steal in houses, not even those churches" as Monsignor Yousif Thoma, Chaldean archbishop of Kirkuk and Sulaymaniyah, the Mishnah describes the drama of Qaraqosh, the Christian town of northern Iraq occupied between yesterday and today by Sunni insurgents along with three other centers. "All 50,000 residents were forced to leave the city - says Monsignor Thoma - and are reaching walk Erbil or Sulaymaniyah (in the region of Kurdistan)." Other sources speak of a flood of 100,000 refugees in desperate march, counting those who had found refuge in Qaraqosh and nearby villages after being forced to flee Mosul was conquered by the Islamic State in June. The jihadists have also "removed the crosses from churches and ancient manuscripts burned," according to the Chaldean patriarch of Kirkuk, Louis Sako, talking about a true "humanitarian disaster." "The Christians have had to abandon everything, even the shoes, barefoot and were routed by force to the area of Kurdistan," says the Vatican agency Fides Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

But are not all Sunnis to be targeted by the Islamic State in its mad holy war. At least 8 refugees sheltering in a Shiite mosque in Kirkuk were killed today and 40 others were wounded in a suicide bombing.

The Kurdish Peshmerga, even with the air cover aviation in Baghdad, appear in considerable difficulties in the face of advancing militia under the banner of this new Jihad. Today, according to local sources, the forces of the Isis would be able to seize even the dam on the Tigris north of Mosul, strategically important because it controls the distribution of water in the vast territories of northern Iraq. A embarrass the Kurds, also, is the mass of hundreds of refugees who seek refuge in their territory. And right from the Kurdish city of Erbil, today, the Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Lapo Pistelli has asked the international community to provide "immediately" support "rapid and tangible for the Kurdish regional government and the Peshmerga."http://www.lastampa.it/2014/06/13/esteri/tremila-turchi-la-quinta-colonna-a-fianco-dei-jihadisti-iracheni-kKQwFAHewtLt4I3xOgYMVM/pagina.html

Iraqi Patriarch Sends SOS After ISIS Takes Over Plain of Nineveh

Iraqi Patriarch Sends SOS After ISIS Takes Over Plain of Nineveh

Following Last Night's Destruction, Christians Walking Toward Kurdish Cities

Here is a message sent today from Baghdad to Aid to the Church in Need, from Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako, president of the bishops of Iraq.

Chaldean Patriarchate's Appeal for Urgent Help SOS

The ISIS militants attacked with mortars most of the villages of the plain of Nineveh, during the night of 6th-7th of August and now they are controlling the area. The Christians, about 100,000, horrified and panicked, fled their villages and houses [with] nothing but the clothes on their backs. An exodus, a real via crucis, Christians are walking on foot in Iraq's searing summer heat towards the Kurdish cities of Erbil, Duhok and Soulaymiyia, the sick, the elderly, infants and pregnant women among them. They are facing a human catastrophe and risk a real genocide. They need water, food, shelter ...

Regarding the churches and church properties in the villages now being occupied by the ISIS militants, we have reports of destruction and desecration. The old manuscripts and documents (1500) are being burnt.

As evident to all, the Central Government is incapable of enforcing law and order in this part of the country. There are also doubts about the capacity of the Kurdistan Region alone to defend the fierce advance of the jihadists. Clearly, there is a lack of cooperation between the Central Government and the Regional Autonomous Government. This "vacuum" is profited by the ISIS to impose their rule and terror. There is a need of international support and a professional, well equipped army. The situation is going from bad to worse.

We appeal with sadness and pain to the conscience of all and all people of good will and the United Nations and the European Union, to save these innocent persons from death. We hope it is not too late!

+Louis Raphael Sako

Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon

President of the Assembly of the Catholic Bishops in Iraq

 

BREAKING news!!!

ISIS JUST EMPTIED NINEVEH PLAINS – 200,000 ARAMEAN CHRISTIANS FLED

 

World Council of Arameans, Beirut: Last night, two Aramean children and a mother were killed as a result of a shameless attack by ISIS terrorists against Baghdeda (Qaraqosh) in North Iraq. At the same time, in the middle of the night, more than 40,000 Aramean families – comprising at least 200.000 human beings – fearfully fled their ancestral homes, towns and villages in the Nineveh region. Another unprecedented humanitarian disaster is now unfolding in Iraq.

Most recently, thousands of Aramean families had already escaped the Mosul region to the Nineveh province, after the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorists rampaged the area. The Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of St. Matthew, including its fourth-century Monastery of Mor Matay, and other local dioceses have been closed.

The Nineveh plains are now emptied from its native Christians, who belong to the Syriac Orthodox, Syriac Catholic, Chaldean and Assyrian (Nestorian) churches in the region. This is the second region that has been emptied from its Aramean population for the first time in its millennia-old history. Thus, an ancient civilization, cultural heritage and population have been destroyed and erased from Iraq’s future.

The majority, if not all, of the local Muslim population apparently did not fear their lives to abandon their homes, while the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters suddenly retreated. The withdrawal of the Kurds is striking, particularly in light of a similar situation that took place a few days ago where thousands of Yezidi men, women and children were abandoned and sacrificed to ISIS by the Peshmerga.

All the developments that have been taking place in Syria and Iraq, once again reveal that there is a clear agenda to divide Iraq into three portions: a Shiite, Sunni (ISIS-controlled) and Kurdish part, whereas defenseless and vulnerable minorities like the Aramean Christians and Yezidis are forced out of their ancient homeland.

The World Council of Arameans (Syriacs) (“WCA”) condemns in the strongest possible terms this latest ISIS invasion. This is nothing short of genocide and ethnic cleansing. A new humanitarian disaster is unfolding and the international community simply does not seem to care.

The WCA President, Johny Messo, expressed his deep concerns as follows: “How many more crimes against humanity does the world wants to see before it finally speaks up? Where are the conscience and the sense of responsibility of the world leaders? Where are the principles of ethics and objective journalism by the mainstream media? We urgently call upon the international community, spearheaded by the United Nations, the European Union, Council of Europe, the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, to act immediately and without further delay. Not to speak is to speak and not to act is to act!”

Mr. Messo further explained: “Yesterday we arrived to Lebanon to discuss the deteriorating situation of our people in Iraq and Syria with the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch and today we would join His Holiness and the Patriarchs of the other native churches in the Middle East at a press conference this afternoon where a joint declaration would be issued. This morning, however, we were deeply shocked when His Holiness broke the news to us. We are all very troubled by this news.”

Before the USA and its allies invaded Iraq in 2003, the Aramean Christian population consisted of 1,4 million souls. Today, less than 400,000 Arameans have remained in their homeland. With the latest developments taking place, the future of this ancient indigenous population of Iraq is at the brink of extinction. In Syria, the same developments have been taking place. Similar attempts of genocide and ethnic cleansing were already successfully accomplished in Turkey in the last century, which saw its numerous native Armenian, Greek and Aramean populations dwindle to less than 100,000.

In all these cases, the foreign policies of Western countries have turned out to be utterly destructive to the many hundreds of thousands of native Aramean Christians who experienced persecutions, beheadings, crucifixion, kidnappings, expulsions and more. Simultaneously, Western governments and mainstream media have remained utterly silent and ignored the cries for help by the Arameans.

 

source Posted by the Orthodox Christian Network.  You can find the Orthodox Christian Network http://myocn.net/breaking-isis-just-emptied-nineveh-plains-200000-aramean-christians-fled/

Metropolitan Hilarion: World on Brink of World War III

 

(Moscow, July 31, Interfax) – Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, has expressed concern over the current international situation, claiming that the world has found itself one step away from a global war.

“The current situation is increasingly reminiscent of that in the run-up to the First World War. News programs have turned into frontline news summaries, each day we hear about more and more victims. Yes, so far the conflicts have been on a local scale but whole countries and whole military-political blocs are getting sucked into the militaristic rhetoric,” the Metropolitan wrote in an article published in the weekly supplement to the Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russian Newspaper – Week) newspaper on Thursday.

Polarization has reached a critical point, the author said.

“Various countries create and maintain, through mass media, an image of the enemy. And that is one step away from a declaration of global war,” the article said.

The hierarch thinks the main lesson of both world wars consists in that they had no winners.

You can read the rest of Interfax’s summary herehttp://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=11427

Is it True That Muslims Are Killing 100,000 Christians Every Year?

 

The death of even one innocent soul is a tragedy for humanity. The discrimination and in some cases persecution of any religious group is no doubt an affront to Islam but many Christian websites and Islamophobic groups are guilty of ratcheting up hostility and fears of Islam and Muslims with dubious stats that not only don’t tell the whole story but skew reality.

By Ruth Alexander BBC http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24864587

It’s often claimed that 100,000 Christians are killed every year because of their religion. Earlier this year, the Vatican called it a credible number. But is it?

Gunmen on motorcycles kill three people when they open fire on a wedding outside a Coptic Christian church in Cairo. A twin-suicide bombing outside a church in Pakistankills at least 75 people.

These two recent headline-grabbing attacks occurred within just a month of each other. Horrific, but by no means isolated incidents.

So how widespread is anti-Christian violence?

“Credible research has reached the shocking conclusion that every year an estimate of more than 100,000 Christians are killed because of some relation to their faith,” Vatican spokesman Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi announced in a radio addressto the United Nations Human Rights Council in May.

On the internet, the statistic has taken on a life of its own, popping up all over the place, sometimes with an additional detail – that these 100,000 lives are taken by Muslims.

The number comes originally from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in the US state of Massachusetts, which publishes such a figure each year in its Status of Global Mission (see line 28).

Its researchers started by estimating the number of Christians who died as martyrs between 2000 and 2010 – about one million by their reckoning – and divided that number by 10 to get an annual number, 100,000.

But how do they reach that figure of one million?

When you dig down, you see that the majority died in the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

More than four million are estimated to have been killed in that war between 2000 and 2010, and CSGC counts 900,000 of them – or 20% – as martyrs.

Over 10 years, that averages out at 90,000 per year.

So when you hear that 100,000 Christians are dying for their faith, you need to keep in mind that the vast majority – 90,000 – are people who were killed in DR Congo.

This means we can say right away that the internet rumours of Muslims being behind the killing of 100,000 Christian martyrs are nonsense. The DRC is a Christian country. In the civil war, Christians were killing Christians.

Read the entire article… http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24864587

 

Freed Sudanese Christian Woman Meriam Ibrahim Arrives In US.

Freed Sudanese Christian Woman Meriam Ibrahim Arrives In US
After Escaping Death Sentence for 'Apostasy,' Ready to Make Home in New Hampshire
Meriam Ibrahim arrived in the U.S. on Thursday with her family, reported News.

Earlier this week, Meriam, 27, her husband, Daniel Wani, and her two young children, Martin, 18 months old, and Maya, born two months ago in prison, met with Pope Francis in Rome
The Italian government and the Vatican negotiated to release her.
She came to Rome with her family July 24 in a government plane, their last stop before flying to the States, to settle in New Hampshire. Her husband is a U.S. citizen.
Ms. Ibrahim faced a death sentence in Sudan because she refused to renounce her Christian faith.
The Holy Father, who met with her and the family at the Vatican the day they arrived in Rome, praised the Sudanese woman for her “courageous witness to perseverance in the faith.”
At the same encounter, she and her family thanked the Holy Father for his support and for that of the Church, specifically for the prayers.
Exhausted but overjoyed Meriam Ibrahim had an emotional reunion with family and friends in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Supporters waved balloons and sang joyously as Ms Ibrahim arrived at the small northern New England airport accompanied by her wheelchair-bound husband, Dani Wani and her two children Martin and Maya.
It brought to an end an 18-month ordeal which began when she was denounced to the authorities by her family for having abandoned Islam.
She had faced the death sentence and was forced to give birth to her child while wearing shackles in a Sudanese prison.
Wearing a white cardigan, black and white flowing dress and clutching a bouquet of flowers and an American flag, she spoke briefly to supporters who had gathered on wet an grey evening to herald her arrival.

Maria Ajamg, one of Ms Ibrahim's supporters, struggled to control her emotions as she described the reunion.

"She was smiling, talking to everybody. She said 'I am so happy to see you guys. It is so nice here.'

"I was crying," Ms Ajamg continued. "But she said 'don't cry' I am here now.' "

_{Meriam arriving with her husband at the airport in Manchester, New Hampsihre (credit}: _{David Millward)}

Ms Ibrahim was first thrown into jail and then on May 15, while heavily pregnant, sentenced to hang for apostasy under Sharia law which has been in force in Sudan since 1983.

Ms Ibrahim insisted she had been a Christian all her life and had never been a Muslim.

She was also accused of adultery for marrying Daniel, a Christian Sudanese man with US citizenship who lives in Manchester.

Her treatment by the Sudanese authorities in Khartoum triggered global outrage.

Within a fortnight of being sentenced to death, Meriam gave birth to Maya. Even then the authorities refused to remove the shackles from her legs.

Ms Ibrahim believes Maya has been left disabled by the traumatic birth, although the extent has yet to be assessed.

It took prolonged negotiations to secure Ms Ibrahim’s release, initially involving South Sudan, where she was born.

The cause was then taken up by the Italy, the holders of the EU presidency, and backed by the Pope.

Ms Ibrahim was finally released on June 23, but detained when she tried to leave Sudan three days later.

Last week she was told would be allowed to go, even though Ms Ibrahim was unsure of her destination.

She was taken to Rome where, after being greeted by Pope Francis in the Vatican, she was allowed a few days to recuperate.

In New Hampshire, Manchester's close-knit 500-strong southern Sudan community was overjoyed at her return.

Dani, along with his brother Gabriel and sister Mary, were among the first Sudanese arrivals when they settled in the town, which has a population of 110,000, in 1998.

"It is an exciting day, we are really happy," said Lual Deng, president of the Sudanese Community in Manchester.

"It is exciting for all of us in the Sudanese community to see her here.''

Ms Ibrahim's refusal to renounce her Christianity was hailed last night by Sister Irene Marie of the Sisters of Presentation of Mary in Manchester.

"This woman is of deep faith and was not afraid to express it," she said. "It has restored our faith."

the followers Eritrean Orthodox church are very happy marim is free . congratulation Mariam Ibrahim with your family.