Card Sako: 10 years after the Islamic State, Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders ‘must stand together’ against hatred
In early August 2014, the advance by the Islamic State sparked the great Christian flight from Mosul and the Nineveh Plain. This tragedy is still etched in the victims’ memory and only 60 per cent have returned to their lands. The Chaldean primate calls for a move away from "fear and despair" by stopping the conflicts that ravage the region.
Baghdad (AsiaNews) – To break the cycle of fear and despair, to stop conflicts, Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders "must stand together" against those who "call for hatred and extremism,” writes Card Louis Raphael Sako, Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, in an appeal sent to AsiaNews to mark the tenth anniversary of the great Christian flight from Mosul and the Nineveh Plain ahead of advancing Islamic State forces.
In the first 10 days of August 2014, a collective tragedy was consumed with more than 120,000 Christians hurriedly abandoning their homes and possessions, seeking refuge in Erbil and Iraqi Kurdistan to escape the jihadi madness.
A decade later, northern Iraq is slowly rebuilding, hampered by delays, economic woes, and regional wars, starting with that in Gaza between Israel and Hamas with global repercussions and alliances.
The Christian community, with its victims killed by the men of “Caliph" al-Baghdadi, is painfully trying to restart and repopulate lands that have been part of its history and cultural tradition for millennia. However, the road ahead is still long and only 60 per cent have returned, as the Chaldean primate himself points out.
The message of the Chaldean patriarch follows:
On the 10th anniversary of ISIS[*] crimes that included, exodus of Christians from Mosul and Nineveh Plane, and genocide of Yazidis, people of the Middle East are still living in a state of fear and worries. For example, the Holy Land is experiencing killing, displacement, destruction and assassinations, this escalation of war is at its peak, placing Middle East at the crossroads.
If wise and sensible people around the world do not move to stop the ongoing violence, which is claiming thousands of lives, destroying homes and infrastructure, we will live in catastrophic conditions.
Everyone declares that they are against war, but they equip themselves and fight. Peace must be an absolute commitment. We, Middle Eastern nations, live together and cannot live in isolation. We believe that war never provide solutions! Everyone involved in it is a “loser”, as Pope Francis has emphasized many times.
Simply, we need today, more than ever, to learn lessons from the past, so that tragedies won’t be repeated. We must work to achieve peace and stability by: overcoming evil with good; war with dialogue and understanding; exclusion with respect for the rights of people; self-determination and respect for international law!
People are drowning in fear and despair. God created us to live and not to die in this misery, we should be able to live together in peace, love and joy.
The West must get out of this discourse that does not do any progress, stop financing conflicts “by proxy” and work hard to build peace and stability everywhere. The war between Russia and Ukraine is in its 3rd year with no solution!
Christian, Islamic and Jewish religious authorities must raise their voices loudly and stand together against those who call for hatred and extremism and beat the drums of war.
I call upon our Churches in the Middle East to bear hope, as Pope Francis asked us to be “pilgrims of hope” for the Holy Year 2025.
I suggest to organize prayers between Churches and Mosques for peace in our region.
Lord of Peace, Grant our World Peace.
* Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Iraq.
[*] Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
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