'Arab winter' chills Christians

by Tom Gallagher on Dec. 05, 2011

The Wall Street Journal reports on the plight of Christians in the Middle East:

At least 54 Iraqi churches have been bombed and at least 905 Christians killed in various acts of violence since the U.S. invasion toppled Hussein in 2003, according to Archbishop Louis Sako of the Chaldean Catholic Church in the northern provinces of Kirkuk and Sulimaniya. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Christians have fled. A report on Iraq released Tuesday by Minority Rights Group International said that about 500,000 Christians remain in Iraq, down from an estimated 800,000 to 1.4 million in 2003.

"It's a hemorrhage," Archbishop Sako says. "Iraq could be emptied of Christians."

Iraq's Christians aren't the only ones under pressure. In Egypt, long-simmering tensions between Muslims and Coptic Christians have flared into violence. Christians, who account for about 10% of Egypt's about 80 million people, worry that the powerful Muslim Brotherhood and ultraconservative Islamic groups will erode some of the protections Christians had carved out under a succession of military-dominated governments.

Yes, while NCR and its

Submitted by Mindy Bennet (not verified) on Dec. 05, 2011.

Yes, while NCR and its commentators fiddle on about altar girls and the new liturgical language, Christians around the world are burning. No wonder they're becoming irrelevant.

Same exact thing could be

Submitted by colkoch1 (not verified) on Dec. 05, 2011.

Same exact thing could be said about the USCCB and it's phoney trumped up war over religious rights with the Obama Administration. Last I checked the Obama Administration was not turning it's police and military on protesting Catholics.
No wonder they're becoming irrelevant

It looks like we are going to

Submitted by Philip M . McGhee (not verified) on Dec. 05, 2011.

It looks like we are going to get an influx of Eastern Christians to the USA. Guys, starts burshing up on your Arabic.

looks like as long as they

Submitted by charles j scanlon (not verified) on Dec. 06, 2011.

looks like as long as they bring along no altar girl, they're in the clear and received with episcopal arms wide open, well, just so long as they vote for any Republican candidate as well.

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