“The Christians of the Middle East feel they have been forgotten by the lay Western world. Ours is an upsetting future”. Mgr. Louis Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk (Iraq), did not mince his words in recalling the tragic situations that the Middle Eastern Christian communities are experiencing, especially in Iraq. “The Muslim world has retained its religious feeling”, said the Chaldean prelate as he spoke today at the meeting of Comunità sant’Egidio, “Christians and Muslims of the Middle East in dialogue”, “even now there is no separation between the state and religion, while the West is lay. There are fears about the enforcement of the Islam law. As Christians, we have no problems living in an Arab culture, but the State is for everyone. That’s why we ask for one single civil law for all citizens. Prospects for Christians are weak, because the Church is weak too. In the radical Islamic countries, it’s over for us, we’d better go away”. Mgr. Sako said he is also worried about the future of Iraq, where “Shiites and Sunnis are splitting up, and so do the Kurds, even if Kurdistan could be seen as a self-governing state by now”.

© SIR - 22 february 2010