The leader of the Catholic church, Pope Francis, hosts US President Donald Trump at the Vatican on Wednesday. Photo: Vatican
ishtartv.com- rudaw.net
ERBIL,
Kurdistan Region — Among the topics discussed by Catholic leader Pope Francis
and US President Donald Trump was the persecution and protection of dwindling
minority communities in the Middle East like that of the Christians.
A
Vatican statement highlighted that Trump and Pope Francis made "particular
reference to the situation in the Middle East and the protection of Christian
communities."
Minority communities like Shabaks, Yezidis, Christians, Kakais were largely
displaced in places like Baghdad, the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh, and
northern Syria as ISIS swept across the Middle East in 2014.
"The
discussions then enabled an exchange of views on various themes relating to
international affairs and the promotion of peace in the world through political
negotiation and interreligious dialogue," read Vatican statement.
Prior
to the rise of ISIS in 2014, there were about 400,000 Christians in Iraq of
various Chaldean, Assyrian, Syriacs and Armenian sects. Now there are about
200,000 who are sheltered in the Kurdistan Region with about that many having
sought refuge abroad.
“Radical
ideologies, extremist lectures, wars and massacres especially against our
Yezidi and Christian brothers and sisters have not affected this culture,”
Kurdish Nechirvan Barzani Prime Minister said in December 2016. “But it has
caused hesitation, fear, a deep wound and pain and posed a serious threat to
the culture of coexistence in Kurdistan and Iraq.
Interfaith leaders in the Kurdistan Region have participated in various
coexistance forums; however, minority leaders have said that often the
platitudes don't leave the room.
“We have a serious task ahead of us. In this time of threats and terrorism this
spirit of tolerance and coexistence has to be strengthened,” Barzani previously
added.
More than 100 churches and monasteries in Mosul alone have been demolished by
ISIS militants since 2014. Elsewhere in the country, there was the 2010 October
attack on the Syrian Church in Baghdad that killed over 50 people, including
many worshipers.
The
White House readout of the meeting stated the two leaders “discussed how religious
communities can combat human suffering in crisis regions, such as Syria, Libya,
and ISIS-controlled territory”
The situation is complicated by the presence of rival forces protecting
Christian towns and villages.
Some areas, including Alqosh, Bashiqa, Tal Squf, and Batnaya, are under the
protection of Nineveh Plains Protection Forces supported by the Peshmerga. But
in Tel Kef, Hamdaniya and other places, Babylon Units, associated with the
Hashd al-Shaabi forces, are in control.
“It is my desire that you become an olive tree to construct peace,” the Pope,
not referencing any one conflict, told Trump, according to The Associated
Press.
"We can use peace," Trump replied
According to 1987 Iraqi census, 1.4 million Christians lived in Iraq primarily
in the Nineveh Plains, Baghdad, and some Kurdish cities. But many have since
migrated to the West or places like Lebanon after years of persecution and
economic hardship.
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