Pray for our Chaldean brethrenWhile

Pray for our Chaldean brethren

While pursuing my licentiate in canon law at Saint Paul University, I was blessed with the wonderful opportunity to study at and participate in activities at the Metropolitain Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies. There I met and came to an appreciation of the Tradition of a number of our Eastern Christian brethren, both Catholic and Orthodox. So it is with a certain sadness of heart that I read the following piece: Iraq Christians Fearful Of Backlash.

Particularly heart-wrenching is the following paragraph: "Who can predict what will happen if the genie gets out of the bottle?" Father Youssef Tuma told Reuters. "Prayers are all we have left. In the event of an aggression by the West, we pray the other party does not take it out on us or look at Christians of the East as the cause," he said. Christian leaders in Iraq, an officially secular country which has tolerated a variety of religious groups, said they have seen an increase in anti-Christian sentiment, mainly from Sunni Wahhabis, followers of a very strict form of Islam popular in Saudi Arabia.

Like the Holy Father, my heart and prayers go out to our Chaldean brothers and sisters in Christ. Regardless of the outcome, we need to pray for our Chaldean brethren in Iraq as well as all our Christian brethren in the Middle-East.