The Holy See: a face of another globalization
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just half an hour to the reports of those who have made it to Beirut, Damascus or Amman; who have buried their dead –the victims of terror or military conflict– and then fled the country in panic; who have paid for the release of their kidnapped children and then escaped with them. Having listened to such reports, you will quickly appreciate that these people will never ever return to Iraq. Anyone who has seen the victims of terror and military conflict with his own eyes –and I will spare you the details– finds it very hard to understand why the Chaldean Patriarch, for instance, is still exhorting people to hold out. Statements made abroad –but also increasingly in the region itself– to the effect that the north of Iraq, the area occupied by the Kurds, remains a safe haven, are not really convincing. It is correct that the Kurdish government and, in particular, its Christian Minister of Finance have done a great deal in material terms for the Christians in northern Iraq. But the question is how long that will continue to be the case. The positive attitude of the Kurds to the Christians has to do in part with political calculations and it has hitherto earned the Kurds much premature praise. However, the wave of terror from central Iraq has in the meantime arrived in northern Iraq and especially in the Christian settlements, spreading fear and anxiety. So it is no longer appropriate to talk of a safe haven. What needs to be done? First and foremost, there is no point continuing to hide from reality –that applies to the Western world as much as it does to Church authorities. The international community must encourage the host countries in the region to do what is necessary –in material and other ways– to at least secure the present status quo so that the refugees can wait for better times and a solution to their personal problems without having to live in constant fear in these countries but rather in relatively decent conditions. The Western world, which when seen through Middle Eastern eyes is the Christian world, must live up to its responsibility and take in those who have no future in the region itself. Under certain circumstances, a selective way of proceeding cannot be excluded here in the interests of the Christians from Iraq. The Church in the world and, hence, the Church in Iraq must adapt the position it has taken hitherto in linguistic terms at least and, de facto, in practical terms too. A continued Christian presence in Iraq is certainly desirable. However, it would be irresponsible to expect the entire Christian population of Iraq to accept the role of martyrs or to force that fate upon them.