{"id":7081,"date":"2014-07-30T10:41:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-30T10:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/bishops-plea-to-us-government-help-iraqi-christians-75024\/"},"modified":"2014-07-30T10:41:00","modified_gmt":"2014-07-30T10:41:00","slug":"bishops-plea-to-us-government-help-iraqi-christians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/07\/bishops-plea-to-us-government-help-iraqi-christians\/","title":{"rendered":"Bishops’ charge to US government: help Iraqi Christians"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Washington D.C., Jul 30, 2014 \/ 04:41 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- The U.S. bishops have urged the U.S. government to assist Iraqi Christian victims of persecution, while France has offered asylum to Iraqi Christians who have fled Mosul.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe Islamic State has taken control of large swaths of territory in northern Iraq, leaving a trail of destruction, burning and looting ancient churches and mosques, homes and businesses,\u201d Bishop Richard E. Pates, the U.S. bishops\u2019 chairman of International Justice and Peace, said July 25.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThousands have fled with little more than the clothes on their backs, often being robbed of their few personal possessions as they ran,\u201d he said in a letter to U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice.<\/p>\n

\tBishop Pates, who heads the Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa, cited a July 22 statement from bishops of the Chaldean Catholic, Syrian Catholic, Syrian Orthodox and Armenian Churches.<\/p>\n

\tThe Iraqi bishops appealed to the Iraqi government to protect Christians\u2019 rights and the rights of other minorities targeted for violence and displacement. They also urged financial assistance and social services for the displaced.<\/p>\n

\tBishop Pates stressed the need for humanitarian aid directly provided to minority communities through trusted non-governmental organizations in order to prevent its diversion to other purposes.<\/p>\n

\tHe urged the U.S. government to \u201cdo all it can to provide this critical assistance to those in desperate straits and to work with other governments in an effort to stop the violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tBishop Pates cited Pope Francis\u2019 words, \u201cviolence is defeated with peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIraq\u2019s Christians have been hit particularly hard by the rise of the jihadist group Islamic State in Iraq and Levant, known as ISIS or ISIL.<\/p>\n

\tOnly 20 Christian families remain in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, an ancient center of Christianity, following the city\u2019s conquest by ISIS forces, the BBC reports.<\/p>\n

\tChaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako of Babylon, who is based in Baghdad, estimated that there were about 35,000 Christians in Mosul before the city\u2019s fall, down from 60,000 before the 2003 U.S. invasion.<\/p>\n

\tThe French government has offered asylum to the Iraqi Christians who have fled Mosul.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe are ready, if they so desire, to help facilitate asylum on our territory,\u201d France\u2019s foreign minister Laurent Fabius and interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, members of the ruling Socialist government, said in a joint statement.<\/p>\n

\tFrench opposition party the National Front on July 26 held a rally in Paris to support Iraqi Christians, BBC News reports.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington D.C., Jul 30, 2014 \/ 04:41 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- The U.S. bishops have urged the U.S. government to assist Iraqi Christian victims of persecution, while France has offered asylum to Iraqi Christians who have fled Mosul.<\/p>\n

\t“The Islamic …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nBishops' charge to US government: help Iraqi Christians<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Jul 30, 2014 \/ 04:41 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- The U.S. bishops have urged the U.S. government to assist Iraqi Christian victims of persecution, while France has offered asylum to Iraqi Christians who have fled Mosul. “The Islamic ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/07\/bishops-plea-to-us-government-help-iraqi-christians\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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