By Abdulmesih BarAbrahem Mor Gabriel, Turkey – AINA — For the third time Turkey has rescheduled the hearing for the different cases regarding the land dispute of St. Gabriel Monastery. The new hearing is set for March 4. International attention increased after the state escalated the issue (AINA 2-6-2009). The …
Read More »Iraq’s Assyrian Christians: More of the Same Old
By Paul Isaac Iraq – IHT — To outside observers, the provincial elections recently held in Iraq were strictly a domestic affair, with internal groups vying for relative influence. For the Assyrian Christians of Iraq, however, the elections signified a desperate appeal to the international community. Amid the ongoing tragedy …
Read More »Iraqi Church Leaders Call for a Role in Rebuilding Peace
Iraq – indcatholicnews — Representatives of churches in Iraq confirmed their commitment to work together with all Iraqi citizens for reconciliation and rebuilding peace in the country. “The solution to current conditions lies not in emptying Iraq of its human resources,” said the participants at a 10-11 February meeting in …
Read More »Expropriation of the lands of the Mor Gabriel Monastery in Tur Abdin, Turkey
Written question no 563 to the Committee of Ministers presented by Mr Omtzigt and others HOLLAND – CDA — The Mor Gabriel Monastery was founded in 397 AD. It is one of the oldest Christian Monasteries in the world. Apart from a number of short spells, it has been a …
Read More »Bishop Abdulahad Gallo Shabo: We Should Be the Ones to Put Turkey on Trial
Södertälje, Sweden – AINA — Speaking during a ceremony on Sunday for the commemoration of Naum Faik, one of the founding fathers of the Assyrian movement, bishop Abdulahad Gallo Shabo said to an audiance of 600 Assyrians in the town of Södertälje they should not be afraid of Turkeys …
Read More »Iraq: Christians Marginalised and Vulnerable
February 5, 2009 Provincial council elections were held in 14 of Iraq’s 18 provinces on Saturday 31 January. Because Iraqi politics is totally tribal the stakes are high and Christians, as a small minority, are inevitably marginalised. For various reasons the elections were generally peaceful. Also no voting was held …
Read More »Low Voter Turnout for Iraq’s Assyrian Population
By Ethan Cole Christian Post Reporter Mon, Feb. 02 2009 No major violence broke out in Iraq Saturday during the provincial elections, but critics are also fast to point out that voter turnout was low, especially among the mainly Christian minority group known as Assyrians. Preliminary …
Read More »Slow Recovery in Iraq – Archbishop Sako Hopes for Mideast Synod
2009-02-05 Archbishop Sako Hopes for Mideast Synod By Edward PentinROME, FEB. 5, 2009 (Zenit.org) – Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk is a refreshing figure to hear speak about his troubled country. Self-effacing and softly spoken, the Iraqi Chaldean prelate has a gritty resilience but combines it with infectious optimism and …
Read More »In Iraq’s North, Ethnic Strife Flares as Vote Draws Closer
Arabs Hope to Curb Power Of Kurdish Government By Ernesto Londoño Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, January 28, 2009; Page A08 QARAQOSH, Iraq — Iraq‘s upcoming provincial elections have exacerbated tensions along the ethnically mixed frontier between the traditionally Arab parts of the country and its Kurdish autonomous region …
Read More »Pope Offers Encouragement to Iraqi Prelates
Bishops Present Him With Mementos of Slain Ministers VATICAN CITY, JAN. 26, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is encouraging Chaldean prelates to continue giving “courageous testimony” in the midst of difficulties, especially in Iraq.The Pope said this in an extensive discourse Saturday to Chaldean bishops in Rome for their five-yearly …
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