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Catholic News
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EXODUS: Flights of Catholics from Iraq troubles Vatican
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VATICAN CITY
(CNS) -- Buried in the Vatican's new yearbook for 2003 is a
striking statistic, and it helps explain Vatican apprehension
about a new war in Iraq. At the start of 1991, just before the
first Persian Gulf War, the Catholic population of Baghdad was
counted at more than 500,000.
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Today,
Catholics there number about 175,000. Over the last 12 years, the
second-largest Catholic community in the Middle East has shrunk by
almost two-thirds. "It's like a Biblical exodus," one Vatican
official said in mid-February. "And with the threat of a new war,
the remaining Catholics must be thinking very hard about packing
their bags."
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Before the
1991 Gulf War, Church officials warned that a conflict would risk
driving out the members of Iraq's Christian minority, many of whom
had relatives living outside the country and therefore found it
easier to emigrate. Their worst fears have come true. Most of the
Iraqi Christians who toughed it out during the war have lost heart
and hope during the U.N. embargo that has crippled the country's
economy. "With the war and the economic situation, they don't see
any future in Iraq," said Father Philip Najim, the Rome-based
representative of the Chaldean-rite Baghdad Patriarchate.
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Vatican, officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said they
were deeply concerned about the continuing flight of Christians
from Iraq. But there are some worrisome signs that things are
changing and that Islamic extremist attitudes are starting to
appear in Iraq. In recent months, local bishops have pointed to
two or three attacks on Catholic places of worship -- something
that had never happened before, the source said.
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IN THIS ISSUE:
HIS Servant
by Bro. Pete Lapid
The Father Speaks
By Fr. S. Binzler, SJ
Our Faith
By Fr. KJ Veeger, MSC
Place of Refuge
By Philip Yuson
Surabaya Corner
By Ramon Martillano
Community Life
By Tintin Magbitang
Reflection
By Fr. Agustinus Belo,
PR
Straight from the Heart
By Carolle Bautista
Catholic News Service
On Focus
By Sansu Garin
Saint for the Month
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