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Contact: World Council of Churches, +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
"The solution to current conditions lies not in emptying Iraq of its human resources," said the participants at a 10-11 February meeting in Dar Sayedat Al Jabal, Fatka, Lebanon. The meeting was organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC).
Some 12 representatives of Iraqi churches attended the gathering, which addressed the challenges facing Christians in Iraq today, particularly issues of safety and security as well as forced migration. They affirmed the status of Iraqi Christians as "authentic children of [the] land," emphasizing the values of equal citizenship and constructive co-existence.
"Christians have belonged to Iraq since the nation's birth," and as "an essential part of Iraqi society […] deeply rooted in its history and civilization," they "have the right to live freely" in the country, enjoying "equal rights and responsibilities along with all other citizens," they said.
Participants in the meeting, some of whom went through the experience of being kidnapped in Iraq, called upon Iraqi Christians "to stay in their homeland and participate actively in its rebuilding and development". Iraqi Christians have a role "in building educational and social institutions that contribute to national reconciliation, peace building and stability," they said.
The gathering also called on Western churches "not to encourage migration and resettlement programs for refugees outside Iraq," but rather to "focus their efforts on bringing back security and stability inside Iraq for all Iraqis," with the aim of enabling Iraqis to "work together, healing wounds and building a better future".
Participants at the meeting emphasized the importance of continued dialogue "among Christians and their Muslim brothers and sisters." They pledged to establish an "ecumenical forum" in order to allow "all Iraqi church leaders […] to speak in a common voice to religious and political authorities inside and outside Iraq".
Full text of the statement of Iraqi church representatives
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=6608
Middle East Council of Churches
http://www.mec-churches.org
WCC programme on accompanying churches in conflict situations
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3147
WCC programme on Churches in the Middle East: solidarity and witness for peace
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3113
Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
