Cardinal Sako: Middle East still suffering after Iraq’s tragedy in 2014

By Lisa Zengarini

As Iraq marks the 10th anniversary of the Yazidi genocide by the so-called Islamic State group, and of the subsequent tragic Christian exodus from Iraq, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako of Baghdad has urged Christian, Muslim, and Jewish leaders “to stand together" against those who continue to fuel “hatred and extremism” threatening to inflame the entire Middle East.

They “must raise their voices loudly,” the Chaldean Patriarch said in a message for the occasion.

The Yazidi genocide and persecution of Christians by the Islamic State

Early in August 2014, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) launched a campaign of mass atrocities to achieve the religious and ethnic cleansing of religious minority groups in the two countries.

ISIS militants first rampaged through the Yazidi heartland of Sinjar, murdering men, abducting and enslaving women and children, and destroying homes and businesses, affecting tens of thousands of people.

More than 3,000 Yazidi men, women and children were killed, and at least 6,800 more — for the most part women and children — were abducted.

Then, on the night of August 6, ISIS went after Iraqi Christians, forcing 120,000 to flee Mosul and the Nineveh Plains.

People in Holy Land living in fear and despair

Ten years on, “people in the Middle East are still living in fear and despair,” Patriarch Sako noted, including in the Holy Land, where the “escalation of war has reached its peak.”

He warned that unless the international community does something to stop the conflict, which is claiming thousands of lives, destroying homes and infrastructure, the people in the region will continue to live “in catastrophic conditions”.

With war, everyone loses

According to the Chaldean Patriarch, “Today, more than ever, we need to learn lessons from the past so that we never allow tragedies to happen again,” because, as Pope Francis has repeatedly said, “war is never a solution” and, in fact, with war, “everyone loses.”

“We must work to achieve peace and stability by overcoming evil with good; war with dialogue and understanding; exclusion with respect for the rights of people,self-determination and respect for international law!” he emphasized.

Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders to stand together

For their part Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders should join their forces to fight those who incite hatred and extremism that fuels wars.

Concluding his message, Patriarch Sako called upon all Churches in the Middle East to bear witness to hope ahead of the 2025 Jubilee, which will have hope as its overarching theme.

He also invited Christian and Muslim religious leaders to organize special prayers for peace mosques and churches.