Iraqi bishop says Islamists will not drive Christians out

Nov 7, 2004 / 22:00 pm

An Iraqi archbishop said Islamists will not drive Christians out of Iraq because of their strong Christian faith.

But Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako of Irkuk in North Iraq warned the congregation at St. Mary’s Coronation Parish in Zurich that the same may not be true in Europe.

“Be cautious,” he said. “That’s what may happen to you in Europe, since indifferentism is prevalent here.” 

The prelate’s recent trip to the Zurich was organized by the Swiss section of the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

Commenting on the current situation in his native country, Archbishop Sako stated: “War is never good. …[But] without the U.S.-led intervention, the whole Middle East would have been destabilized. Islamists would control the country,” he said.

He called on Catholics everywhere to protest whenever Christians in Iraq suffer from Muslim fundamentalists’ attacks.

“Recently, when five churches in Baghdad were bombed, there was practically no reaction in the West,” he noted. “Support us, for this is the best missionary work you can do.

“We know the country as well as its people. We are open-minded and strong in the faith, which we are passing on,” he said. “We can help make Iraq a democratic, pluralistic nation.”