Iraqi Christians facing persecution are welcomed in the north

By Catholic Online
11/11/2010

Leader assures Chaldeans that the Kurdistan Region is open to them

After a massacre at a Catholic Church in Baghdad left 58 people dead, Chaldeans - or Iraqi Catholics fear greater persecution in the years ahead after U.S. forces begin to withdraw from their homeland. A Kurdish leader wants to make clear that the Chaldean Catholics are welcome in the northern part of the nation, and says he welcomes Chaldean families with open arms.

A Kurdish leader wants to make clear that the

Chaldeans are welcome in the northern part of

the nation, and says he welcomes Chaldean

families with open arms.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - After a massacre at a Catholic Church in Baghdad left 58 people dead, Chaldeans - or Iraqi Catholics fear greater persecution in the years ahead after U.S. forces begin to withdraw from their homeland. A Kurdish leader wants to make clear that the Chaldean Catholics are welcome in the northern part of the nation, and says he welcomes Chaldean families with open arms.

"I want to let them know that the Kurdistan Region is open to them. If they want to come, we will protect them and provide them with all services," Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan regional government says. "We are extremely sorry for the crimes they have been subjected to and we condemn these criminal acts, they are innocent people and a precious part of this nation."

The regional government has opened its doors to other persecuted minorities in the past.

Many Christian families told CNN that they feared for their own safety and wanted to leave Iraq, but didn't have the means to do so.

CNN reporters in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish north have noticed an influx of Christians in the country's north in recent days. There has been a general migration by Chaldeans to that part of the nation since 2003.

Barzani's comments came after the United States, the U.N. Security Council and an American Catholic archbishop expressed concerns about the continuing attacks on Christian and other religious groups in Iraq.

"The United States strongly condemns the recent terrorist attacks in Iraq, which were perpetrated by al Qaeda in Iraq against Christians in Baghdad in their homes and in their churches," Mike Hammer, spokesman for the White House's National Security Council says. "We also strongly condemn additional attacks against innocent civilians throughout Iraq, to include pilgrims in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala."

The U.N. Security Council also decried attacks on places of worship in Iraq.

The archbishop of Chicago, Illinois, urged U.S. President Barack Obama to take steps to protect Christians in Iraq.

"Having invaded Iraq, our nation has a moral obligation not to abandon those Iraqis who cannot defend themselves," Cardinal Francis George of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote in a statement.