Never Forgotten: The Suffering Church

Today we went off to Westminster Cathedral to take part in Aid to the Church in Need's annual day meeting, entitled this year "Never Forgotten: The Suffering Church".

We arrived for Mass in time for the In nomine Patris, having changed onto the wrong train and then having had to negotiate a signal failure at Aldgate to get ourselves back on to the right line! Clouds of incense suitably illuminated by the streaming rays of the Sun shining through the windows behind the sanctuary. Solemn Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Jean Sleiman of Baghdad.

Archbishop Sleiman gave us a very careful and exact analysis of the situation of the people of Iraq, before addressing in more detail the situation of Christians in the country. With the sudden end of the regime of Saddam Hussein, the state, and with it the rule of law, disappeared. Years afterwards, there is still not the confidence in the new Iraqi government for many people to feel that a rule of law has been re-established. Though violence has decreased, it is still there, and the predominant experience of Christians in Iraq is that of fear. Even though the constitution guarantees freedom, democracy and human rights, these cannot be practiced because of the widespread divisions in society caused by religious differences, ethnic differences, tribal differences etc. Where we in the UK often consider questions of the relation of the state to civil society in terms of situations where the state is encroaching on what should really be left to civil society, it was very interesting to hear about a situation where it is the inadequacy of the state that is leading to strife at the level of civil society.

The Archbishop mentioned how, during the short war as the Americans and British invaded Iraq, Christians and Muslims prayed together as they sheltered from the war. This, however, came to an end almost immediately that the major hostilities ended. He also commented on the extent to which Christians have fled the major cities of Iraq, either to neighbouring countries or to the northern region of Iraq itself. Archbishop Sleiman spoke strongly against the idea that Christians should move to the northern region and seek a kind of autonomous government there, saying that Christians needed to be able to play a full part in Iraqi society throughout the country, and not be confined to a "ghetto".

John Pontifex gave an update on the situations in northern Iraq and China; Neville Kyrke-Smith spoke about the situation in the Caucasus - Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Georgia.

From what was said during the day, I am expecting that the full text of Archbishop Sleiman's talk will be placed on the ACN UK website.