By Baghdadhope
While the entire Catholic hierarchy in Iraq is preparing for the synod on the Middle East to be held in Rome between October 10 and 24 the exodus of Christians from Mosul continues.
The tens of thousands of Christian faithful who used to live in the city before the last war have been reduced to no more than 700 families, as declared to Avvenire by Msgr. Emil Shimoun Nona, the Chaldean bishop of Mosul, who also specified how their stay was not dictated by anything but poverty which prevented them to escape.
But there are also cases in which even the specter of poverty can win the terror of dying. According to some sources of Ankawa.com, in fact, three Christian families fled from their homes in the district of Al-zuhoor after the explosion of a bomb placed in a rubbish bin in front of one of them that, fortunately, caused only material damages but that convinced the three families to flee for fear of further attacks and with their hearts full of the memory of the terrible autumn of 2008 when the attacks to Christians in Mosul caused dozens of deaths and the displacement of thousands of Christians from the city.
Will the participants to the synod find a solution that really can provide these families a reason to return to their homes despite the dangers, and "saving" in this way the Christian presence in the city?
It is the same Chaldean bishop, Msgr. Nona, who affirmed that only God knows when Mosul will be a quiet and peaceful city, and that in case of another civil war "for Christians, already sorely tried, it would be the end."