The Christmas season is a fitting time to reflect on the state of religious freedom around the globe. It is easy to take for granted the upcoming Christmas-themed plays and concerts, nativity scenes in front yards, Christmas caroling in public venues, and memorable liturgies such as the Midnight Mass – these are all the fixtures of the Christmas season that many of us could never imagine being stripped of. However, in Iraq celebrating Christmas this year is tantamount to suicide, and a new study in Europe details the growing persecution of Christians in the former heartland of the Christian faith. It seems clear that this Christmas season must remind all believers that vigilance and solidarity are required for their brothers and sisters around the globe.
The front page article in Monday’s edition of the New York Times presented several startling pieces of information about the dismal situation facing Christians in Iraq:
- A new wave of Iraqi Christians is fleeing the cities of Baghdad and Mosul. The refugees are leaving after the deadly siege of a Catholic Church in Baghdad in October that killed 53 worshippers. Since then further bombing attacks directed at Christians have been carried out, killing at least a dozen more Iraqi Christians.
- According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Christians fleeing religious persecution account for 20 percent of the Iraqis who have left the country, while they were only three percent of the country’s pre-war population.
- In Mosul it is estimated that just 5,000 out of a pre-war population of 100,000 Christians remain. One Mosul citizen quoted in the article believes that within a month there may be no Christians left in the city.
Russell Shaw, writing for Our Sunday Visitor, came out with a strongly worded call to action regarding the deepening crisis for Christians in Iraq. Concerned that America’s actions in Iraq could have a devastating long-term impact on Iraqi Christians, Shaw opines:
George W. Bush was eager to go into their country and Barack Obama was eager to get out. By a painful coincidence, the disparate exigencies of these two American presidents have come together to help create conditions for a tragedy of historic proportions now being experienced by the Iraqi Christian community….What’s imperative now are tangible steps by the American government to give concrete help to Iraqi Christians who choose to leave their troubled country along with those who choose to stay — or who perhaps stay because they have no other choice.
Yet as the world keeps a watchful eye on Iraq’s Christians during this Christmas season, a newly released five-year report from the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe unveils some upsetting trends in the old continent. Vatican spokesperson, Fr. Federico Lombardi said the Vatican is concerned about the report, which detailed numerous incidences of persecution against Christians. Some examples included:
- The fining of French politician Christian Vanneste in June 2005 for comments deemed “homophobic.” Vanneste had simply stated that homosexuality was “morally inferior” to heterosexual marriage.
- The investigation launched against the Roman Catholic archbishop of Glasgow in January 2006. The archbishop’s defense of marriage had angered a Scottish Member of Parliament.
- The November 2008 removal from the court of Spanish judge Fernando Calamita for a period of 18 years. The ban was enforced after Calamita delayed the adoption of a young girl by lesbian parents.
These examples represent a small sample of a growing trend that is of great concern to Pope Benedict XVI. In his recent trip to Great Britain, the Holy Father confronted the clash between Christian faith and the dominant secular culture. The pope proposed dialogue as the means to overcoming differences:
I cannot but voice my concern at the increasing marginalization of religion, particularly of Christianity, that is taking place in some quarters, even in nations which place a great emphasis on tolerance. There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere…And there are those who argue – paradoxically with the intention of eliminating discrimination – that Christians in public roles should be required at times to act against their conscience. These are worrying signs of a failure to appreciate not only the rights of believers to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, but also the legitimate role of religion in the public square. I would invite all of you, therefore, within your respective spheres of influence, to seek ways of promoting and encouraging dialogue between faith and reason at every level of national life.
This Christmas Iraqi Christians will worship in silence, many hidden away in monasteries, while awaiting their date to flee their homeland – a country with Christians roots that date back to the dawn of Christianity. Many of these new refugees will harbor hopes of settling in Europe, a continent where they will be able to worship the Christ-child in peace, but may have to remain silent when it comes to espousing the teachings of the Church that Christ founded. The ironies are endless. The persecution need not be. Vigilance in defense of religious freedom, and solidarity with those attacked – this is the mandate for us all.
- David Naglieri
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