2014 Archive
News (Archive-2014)
The conditions faced by the Christian population across the Middle East are important for caring Christians around the world to understand. Major media outlets too often provide us, however, with an incomplete (and sometimes inaccurate) account of events there and their causes. We present herewith a collection of well-written articles on the Christian situation to help broaden your understanding of this important subject. Articles reflect the authors’ research and opinions, not those of SMOTJ.
January 2014
What the Middle East Would Be Like Without Christians
Christian Science Monitor
December 22, 2013 By Christa Case Bryant
If current trends remain unchanged, we will see a Holy Land in the next few decades with no Christian congregations left. This piece from the CS Monitor provides a picture of how deeply woven into the fabric of Middle East life Christians are and, by implication, how different life would be in their absence.. Read the article
February 2014
Why "Vicar of Baghdad" is a 21st Century Hero
FoxNews.com
February 6, 2014 By Lela Gilbert
“The Vicar of Baghdad” is one of our own – a highly decorated member of SMOTJ. Fox News pays tribute to this iconic Christian who does God’s work in the hell that is home to many Iraqi Christians. Read the article
April 2014
The Middle East War on Christians
Wall Street Journal
April 16, 2014 By Ron Prosor
The Reverend Canon Brian Cox, an American Templar and a tireless worker for faithbased reconciliation in the Middle East, says that this opinion piece by Israel’s ambassador to the U.N. accurately portrays the Christian situation there. Interestingly, Fr. Brian believes it reflects a nascent warming of relations between the Christian community and Israel in the aftermath of the “Arab Spring.” Read the article
June 2014
Christian Leaders: “Middle East Christians Must Not Be Forgotten”
Washington Post
May 7, 2014 By Adelle M. Banks | Religion News Service
High-ranking American clergymen and Congressmen jointly speak out on atrocities against Christians, declaring that our silence aids the persecutors. Read the article
July 2014
Since the extremist group ISIS seized control of major cities in Northern Iraq and Syria, news of Christianity’s fate has been grim. Even some local Muslims are worried. This article on Christian flight from Mosul is recent evidence.
Islamist Insurgents in Northern Iraq Threaten Christians
Members of Minority Told to Convert to Islam
Wall Street Journal
MIDDLE EAST NEWS
July 18, 2014 8:00 p.m. ET
By ALI A. NABHAN and MATT BRADLEY
BAGHDAD—The Islamic militants who seized large swaths of Iraq last month have threatened Christians with death if they don't convert to Islam, pay a tax or flee insurgent-held areas by Saturday. Read the article
A further update from the BBC on conditions in Mosul, an ancient home for Iraqi Christians that dates back almost to the time of Christ.
BBC News
Middle East
21 July 2014
Last updated at 11:25 ET
ISIS Militants 'Seize Iraq Monastery, Expel Monks'
Islamist militants in Iraq are reported to have seized an ancient monastery near Mosul and expelled the monks.
Analysis by BBC Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher
Local residents said monks at the Mar Behnam monastery were allowed to take only the clothes they were wearing. Read the article
August 2014
The jihadist group now calling itself the Islamic State was virtually unopposed in its campaign to rid the Mosul region of Christianity, until recent days. The intervention of American air power and local ground forces turned the tide for now. But it came too late for most of the Christian population there. This article describes the brutal circumstances more fully than Western reports.
THE JERUSALEM POST
August 7, 2014
The Religious Cleansing of Iraq’s Christians
"Can this really be happening in the modern world?"
By LELA GILBERT
Read the article
September 2014
Islam’s leaders have tended toward silence in response to the brutality of their radical brethren who are so active in the Middle East. Thus, this article was a surprise. The leader of Europe’s largest Muslim community condemns that violence and calls on French Muslims to pray for the Christians who are its victims.
REUTERS
September 9, 2014
French Muslims Support Mideast Christians Against Islamic State
By Tom Heneghan
Read the article
Lebanese Christians have watched the violence and atrocities against their brothers in Iraq and Syria. Many decided it’s time for a more pro-active selfdefense to protect themselves and Christianity’s presence in Lebanon.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 5, 2014
Christians Arm as Middle East Perils Mount
Read the article
October 2014
Many Iraqi Christians survived the Iraq War and the subsequent Iraqi government. Today they struggle to survive ISIS. And they debate where they can finally find a safe place to work and raise their families.
Iraqi Christians' Dilemma: Stay or Go?
With ISIS Threat, Thousands of Chaldeans Face an Agonizing Decision
Wall Street Journal
September 29, 2014
Read the article
Christians’ “Last Stand” in Irbil is a reminder of the horrific price being paid by our Brothers and Sisters in Iraq for holding to their faith in the face of the ISIS onslaught.
With ISIS an hour away, one of the only remaining Christian
communities makes its ‘last stand in Iraq’
National Post
October 5, 2014
Read the article
November 2014
National Geographic looks at religious minorities in this interview with a former British diplomat. As a Christian and a diplomat who spent years working and travelling in the Middle East, he offers a fresh take on tolerance and intolerance across continents and centuries, hoping that these religions can survive in the region of their birth.
Simon Worrall
for National Geographic
published October 26, 2014
Read the article
December 2014
Pope Francis, on his historic visit to Turkey, directly condemned Islamic extremism and urged Muslim clerics to do so, as well. This article focuses more on another message of the trip – the need for inter-religious dialogue and for unity within Christendom.
By DEBORAH BALL
Updated Dec. 1, 2014 1:28 a.m. ET
The Wall Street Journa
Read the article
