Iraqi Christians Unshaken by Terrorists' Bombs

On Saturday 16 October, the Iraq Christian minority went through yet another day of tremor and darkness as apparently coordinated attacks were targeted on five Baghdad churches in the span of an hour.

However, hope was reborn in the churches being attacked. On Sunday, just one day after the attacks, services were held and bells rang as usual. In a blackened Greek Catholic church, the chief minister Father Mansour al-Mukhallessi prayed on the Sunday Service, “We came here to pray and not to make a political or religious statement. We are here to ask God’s forgiveness for those who destroy churches and places of worship... We will vanquish death and misery.”

In St. Joseph's Church, which was almost completely destroyed by a powerful bomb, the strength and character of Iraqi Christians was fully revealed through their actions. With tears, the congregation gathered on Sunday. A 13-year-old boy said he was crying when he saw what happened because, he said, this is a sacred place, a holy place. He said, this is a house of God.

“We carry on as we did before. It’s just symbolic, to say that whatever they do to us, or to others, we carry on believing in God and praying,” said Father Vincent, the priest at St. Joseph’s.

Christian leaders tried to explain the reason behind these attacks. “The attackers have one goal: sowing strife in the heart of Iraqi society. But they will not destroy our unity,” said Yunadam Kanna, a Christian representative in Iraq’s interim parliament. He said that the Islamic extremists were trying to sow dissension among Iraq’s Muslim majority and dwindling Christian community.

Even the U.S. military team lamented. “It is ridiculous. They [the attackers] are trying to transform this into a religious war. We are here to put an end to that,” said Sergeant Rick Donahou, who came with a US military team to assess the damage.

Nevertheless, the brave and determined acts of solidarity in the name of God among Iraqi Christians will surly impress the Islamic extremists and become a spiritual defence against them. Engraved in the heart of Iraq Christians is the core of the Gospel - love and forgiveness - and that is the real strength that encourages them in their struggle to survive.

To a person, when asked who they thought was responsible for Saturdays bombings, all of them said, “Only God knows who did it.”

The attack this time seems to be a sign of the rising tide of Islamic extremists in Iraq. In early August, there were four attacks against Christian targets in Baghdad and two others in Mosul, which left 10 people dead and 50 injured.

Recent reports have indicted that a mass exodus of Iraqi Christians to neighbouring countries such as Syria and Jordan was observed in the midst of unrest and violence. Official figures recorded that 40,000 Christians have fled in the last two months. Many even warned that the tiny proportion of Christians in Iraq is shrinking and will be threatened to extinction in the next year if the situation does not improve.