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

By Lisa Zengarini

As Iraq marks the 10th anniversary of the Islamic State group’s genocide of the Yazidis and the subsequent tragic exodus of Iraqi Christians, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako of Baghdad urged Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders to “unite” against those who continue to fuel “hatred and extremism” that threaten to engulf the entire Middle East. They “must raise their voices loudly and clearly,” the Chaldean patriarch said in a message for the occasion.

The Yazidi Genocide and the Persecution of Christians by the Islamic State

In early August 2014, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) launched a campaign of mass atrocities to carry out religious and ethnic cleansing of minority religious groups in both countries.

ISIS militants first rampaged through the Yazidi stronghold of Sinjar, killing 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 others – mostly women and children – were abducted.

Then, on the night of August 6, ISIS attacked Iraqi Christians, forcing 120,000 of them to flee Mosul and the Nineveh Plain.

The people of the Holy Land live in fear and despair

Ten years later, “people in the Middle East still live in fear and despair,” Cardinal 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 end the conflict, which has left thousands dead and destroyed homes and infrastructure, 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 must learn the lessons of the past so that tragedies do not 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 stressed.

Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders must unite

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

Hope and Prayer

In concluding his message, Cardinal Sako called on all the Churches of the Middle East to bear witness to hope as the Jubilee of 2025 approaches, the main theme of which will be hope. He also invited Christian and Muslim religious leaders to organize special prayers for peace in mosques and churches.