At least 100,000 Christians fled the Plain of Nineveh last summer.
The Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group has since invaded northern Iraq and occupies both the churches and homes of Christians. Only the Kurdish autonomous region is still a safe area for Christians and other minorities.
Catholics in Germany have presented an appeal to the German government and Pakistani Christians in Italy are pushing for a motion on religious freedom. A Muslim lawyer is now defending Asia Bibi.
In words and gestures, Pope Francis and the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch moved the dialogue between the Eastern and Western Church a few steps closer to full communion this past weekend, say theological experts in the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches.
“Some churches in Mosul have been transformed into places of detention by jihadists of the Islamic State (IS), who have laid down laws in the northern city of Iraq since June 9,” Fides news agency reports.
“In particular, according to sources reported by the local news website www.ankawa.com, in recent days some detainees, who were blindfolded and handcuffed, were transferred to the ancient Chaldean church of the Immaculate Conception, in the eastern part of the city.”
Religious leaders came together in the Vatican to sign a joint declaration on slavery. Exploiters make $150 billion a year out of their victims.
n the interview Pope Francis gave on the return flight to Rome, he spoke about interreligious dialogue, asking political leaders, scholars and Muslim religious figures to speak out against fundamentalist terrorism. Regarding unity between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, he said that “uniatism” is not the way forward. “I want to go to Iraq“ and “I would like to meet the Patriarch of Moscow”.
During the meeting the Pope condemned the degrading conditions in which refugees are forced to live as “intolerable”. “I wanted to meet more refugees but it was not possible,” he added. Before making his way tot he airport, Francis paid a visit to the Armenian Patriarch who is currently in hospital.
The Catholic Church “does not intend to make any demands” to restore full communion with Orthodox Christians. Pope Francis. Prospects for the new millennium. The “Ratzinger Proposal” is still echoed today.
A common declaration of Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew on the issues of ecology and poverty would be natural is foreseeable for the future, a theological advisor of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Costantinople told CNA November 28.
“Today, there is no excuse for indifference or inaction. A joint response between Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew can prove both powerful and permanent,” said Fr. John Chrissavgis, who works for the partriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Churches.
In his address to Turkey’s political leaders, Francis recalled the role and responsibility the country has in maintaining peace in the region and called for equal rights and duties for the country’s religious minorities. “We’re on the same page when it comes to the fight against terrorism,” Erdoğan stated.
