Ishtartv.com – shafaq.com

2025-09-25

On Thursday, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Iraq and the world, called on the international community to safeguard Iraq’s dwindling Christian population, describing them as “the roots of Christianity in the region.”

Addressing a group of diplomats and government officials in Vienna, Sako outlined over two decades of hardships for Iraq’s Christians, highlighting the impacts of sectarian violence, and extremist groups including Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

He pointed to long-standing challenges facing Iraq’s Christians, including discrimination in employment, legal restrictions, and the forced conversion of minors. Reflecting on 2014, he recalled, “A militia seized Christian-owned property in Baghdad and the Nineveh Plain and assumed parliamentary seats reserved for Christians, despite not representing the community politically.”

The patriarch drew attention to the sharp decline in Iraq’s Christian population, from 1.5 million before 2003 to roughly 400,000–500,000 today, with over a million seeking safety abroad. In Mosul, which previously housed 50,000 Christians, only 70 families remain. Meanwhile, villages in the Nineveh Plain continue to face a lack of services and employment, making daily life extremely difficult.

Urging the European Union, the United Nations, and other international actors to take active steps to protect Christians, Sako emphasized that the community seeks full citizenship rights rather than special privileges.

He also outlined specific measures to safeguard Christians, including deploying federal security forces in the Nineveh Plain, restoring looted property, compensating affected families, and creating conditions for displaced Christians to return safely.

“Christians in Iraq view their presence as a human testimony and a message of peace,” he concluded, urging continued support to help them contribute to a secure, inclusive, and prosperous Iraq.