Mourning in Baghdad.

Following up on last week's post on the attack on the Syrian Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad, I would like to share a couple of short videos from Qatar-based news network Al Jazeera looking at the aftermath of this tragedy. As difficult as it is to watch and to listen to tragic news reports like these, I believe that we all have a responsibility to make ourselves aware of the ongoing suffering of Iraq's beleaguered Christian communities and to reflect on how we should respond to what is going on. In the first video, Al Jazeera correspondent Rawya Rageh reports on a funeral service for some of the victims of the Baghdad church attack (h/t Byzantine, Texas):



The above video includes a brief reference to the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch, Emmanuel Cardinal Delly, whose response to last week's attack included a strong call for Iraqi Christians to remain in their historic homeland despite spiraling violence and regular threats from Islamic militants. Outside the country, however, some Iraqi Christian exiles are suggesting that the time has come for Iraq's remaining Christians to seek refuge in the diaspora. In this second video, Al Jazeera reporter Jonah Hull visits the Syriac Orthodox cathedral in London, where resident Archbishop Mor Athanasios Thoma Dawood and members of his predominantly Iraqi congregation suggest that the time has come for all Christians to leave Iraq:



Though I am far away from the carnage chronicled in these news reports, I share the anger expressed by some of those interviewed. I pray for the victims of last week's tragedy and for the consolation and the safety of those who mourn them. As I wrote last week, despite my pessimism regarding the current situation I desperately hope that the Christians of Iraq will somehow be able to find a future for themselves in the country. Whatever else you do, I hope that you will join me in praying for this intention. AMDG.