New threats against Iraqi Christians

(19 April 2007) : "Get rid of the cross or we will burn your churches," are the threats Iraqi Christians are facing in Baghdad. The Chaldean Church of Sts Peter and Paul, located in the ancient Christian quarter of Baghdad, Dora, received such as a threat from an unknown Islamic group. They are threatening to destroy churches unless crosses are removed. Bishop Shlemnon Warduni told AsiaNews, "in the last 2 months many churches have been forced to remove their crosses from their domes," while in one case Islamic militants climbed the church roof to destroy the cross themselves. Christians in some sections have been warned not to wear a cross, and advised to convert to Islam or face violence. The Islamic group active in Dora also permits the confiscation of goods and properties belonging to the Christian families who find themselves forced to flee their homes for safety at short notice.The situation is "unsustainable," Bishop Warduni reports, and the pressure upon Christians to leave the country is still growing.