In autumn 2022 I was lucky enough to interview Mar Awa III Royel, Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East in Rome for Agenzia Fides. It is a Church that now it is small from a numerical point of view, but has a long history, and represents a direct heir of that Ancient Eastern Church which in the first centuries of Christianity was at the center of an extraordinary missionary adventure.
Turkish forces continue their month-long offensive across the northern fringe of Iraqi Kurdistan. As of July 15, 2024, Turkish jets and drones have carried out more than 380 bombardments and burned more than 250 miles of farmland. The Turkish attacks have been especially hard on the region's Christian-Assyrian community.
With the restoration of Cardinal Louis Sako as the official head and patriarch of Iraq's Chaldean (Eastern rite Catholic) Church, the dwindling Christian minority has reason to hope for a better future in their own homeland, say Church leaders.
Closing their annual synod meeting the Chaldean bishops highlighted the persecution of Christians and the scourge of seemingly unending conflict in the Middle East, calling on the Iraqi government to do more to protect Christians and calling for a two-state solution to end the Israel-Hamas war.
As one enters the Christian villages in Al-Amadiyah, Berwari, and Nahla regions in the far reaches of Duhok governorate, a palpable sense of fear and terror looms over the residents due to ongoing clashes between the Turkish Army and PKK militants.
Baghdad -- A crescendo of attacks and an increased presence on the ground, suggesting an attempt to 'reconstitute' itself as a group in order to strike back and conquer more and more ground. The United States is sounding the alarm to the government in Baghdad, faced with the danger of the return of the Islamic State to Iraq and Syria, in the tenth anniversary of the rise of the jihadist movement...