ASIA/IRAQ - Intellectual and political campaign against the exodus of Christians

Baghdad (Agenzia Fides) –Non-stop interventions on behalf of intellectuals, journalists and Iraqi politicians mostly of Muslim faith have been launched on the www.ankawa.com website as a contribution to counteract the hemorrhage of Christians fleeing from the ancient Churches present in Iraq. The campaign, as well as providing an opportunity for in-depth historical and sociological phenomenon of the exodus, also gives way to the characters involved to offer concrete solutions on how to address and curb the phenomenon. "Before the U.S. invasion of Iraq", says Nuri al-Hamdan, Christians were more than a million, but now there are about 300 thousand". According to one of the speakers, Professor Mahdi al-Jaber al Mahdi, "what is happening to Christians today is a wake-up call for all those who care about the prosperity of the Country". While the Shiite politician leader Ahmed Chalabi hopes that the next government puts the return of Iraqi Christians who have emigrated abroad as a priority on its agenda. On his behalf, Sheikh Abdul Hussein al-Saadi suggests that the Holy See should intervene in order to urge Christians not to leave their Homeland. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 4/12/2013)