Source: The Tidings (Weekly newspaper of the Los Angeles Archdiocese)
December 13 Detroit (CNS). Chaldean Catholics who remain in Iraq "are all in danger. They never know if they will be killed or kidnapped today or tomorrow," said Chaldean Bishop Ibrahim N. Ibrahim.
"To be honest, we don't see any future for the Christians in the Arab countries. Not only Iraq, even Syria, even Lebanon, even Egypt," he said. There were 650,000 Chaldeans in Iraq prior to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion into Iraq. Today, there are 250,000-300,000 --- the same number now living in North America, said Bishop Ibrahim, head of the Southfield-based Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle. The 150,000 Chaldeans in the Detroit area make up the largest group outside the Middle East; he said the number has grown by 40,000 in the past five years.
His brother bishops in Syria and Lebanon, host countries for Iraqi refugees, agree with his assessment of the dangers to those still in their home country. They all knew Chaldean Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mosul, Iraq, who was killed in March 2008. They also knew the three priests who have been killed. And half of the priests now in Baghdad know what it's like to have been kidnapped. "I fear our future," said Chaldean Bishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo, Syria.