https://www.middleeastmonitor.com
Tuesday, 26 August 201

Vatican: Middle East conflict not a clash between Islam and Christianity

I have been reading the reports from the Vatican Ambassador in Syria, Monsignor Mario Zenara, describing how many Muslims support the persecuted Christians, and that the attacks on Christians do not enjoy the approval of the majority of the people. We hope that they will also speak up against this, to make a clear distinction between what can and what cannot be done.

The Secretary of State of the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said that, "What is happening in the Middle East, especially in Syria and Iraq, is not a clash between Islam and Christianity," and called this way of understanding the region an "oversimplification".

On Monday, after celebrating Mass for the 100th anniversary of the death of Saint Pius X, Anadolu news agency quoted Parolin as saying that: "I have been reading the reports from the Vatican Ambassador in Syria, Monsignor Mario Zenara, describing how many Muslims support the persecuted Christians, and that the attacks on Christians do not enjoy the approval of the majority of the people. We hope that they will also speak up against this, to make a clear distinction between what can and what cannot be done."

The Vatican official noted that the situation in Iraq "raises serious concerns with regard to the fate of all Christians and other minorities" in the region, adding: "We really hope those who were displaced can quickly return to their homes and build through the political process a new Iraq where all religious minorities enjoy the freedom of worship and contribute to developing their country."

Cardinal Parolin also called on the international community to help Iraq, saying: "It is impossible for a country in the conditions Iraq is in now to resolve its problems on its own."

The Islamic State has controlled large areas in the northern and western provinces of Iraq for the past two months, while Iraqi central government forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga are currently fighting to restore their control over these territories.

In July, the Islamic State gave the Christians in the northern city of Mosul a deadline, demanding them to choose between converting to Islam, paying taxes or leaving the city without their belongings. The majority of the city's residents were forced to flee their homes.

Meanwhile, Anadolu reported that on 2 August, the Islamic State also took control over the city of Croutons, the largest city in Iraq to have Christian residents, as well as Bartalah, another predominantly Christian city near Mosul, after the government and Peshmerga withdrew their forces, prompting more than 100,000 Iraqi Christians to flee towards Kurdistan, according to the Patriarch of Babylon, Louis Sako, the most prominent Christian leader in Iraq.

Islamic State militants are also waging attacks against Yazidis and other religious minorities in Iraq, according to witnesses and Iraqi officials.