Paul Keenan‘We need a rescue plan’ – Bishop
The Chaldean hierarchy in Iraq has gathered to discuss ways of stemming the latest flow of Christians from the country.
As members of the minority community continue to flee ahead of the advances made by the extremist Islamist grouping, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), prelates began a meeting on June 24 in the relative safety of Kurdish-controlled Erbil to discuss the crisis.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Auxiliary Bishop Saad Sirop of Baghdad said: “What we need is a rescue plan. So many have left Iraq already. It is a very difficult moment for the Church in Baghdad."
The meeting proceeded as reports emerged from Mosul that, in tightening its grip on the city, ISIS has moved to tear down a Marian statue from the façade of the city’s Chaldean Church of the Immaculate Conception. Since the ISIS takeover of Mosul, and for the first time in 1,600 years, no Christian Mass has been celebrated in the city.