Iraqi Christian Brutally Tortured, Murdered in Kirkuk

The return of the brutally tortured body of murdered Chaldean Catholic Ashur Issa Yaqub has the Christian residents of Kirkuk in northern Iraq reconsidering whether to remain in the region or leave their homeland altogether. More here.

"Defying Deletion"

An excellent review of a new documentary on the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Iraq's Assyrians can be found here.

Christian Exodus from Iraq Continues

Officials in Iraqi Kurdistan report that over 1,000 Iraqi Christian families have taken refuge in the region as violence in Baghdad, a large center of Christianity in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, has worsened. The United Nations also reports that the number of Iraqi Christian refugees being registered in neighboring Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon is also significantly up. More here.

UNHCR on Plight of Iraqi Christianity

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has noted the ongoing exodus of Orthodox Christians, Assyrian Christians, and Chaldean Catholics from central Iraq to Iraqi Kurdistan and abroad. It has also called on governments returning assylum seekers to Iraq not to return them to parts of the country where their lives will be in danger. More here.

Petition for the Glorification of Iraqi New Martyrs

A petition has begun to have the Christians killed in the violence in Iraq since the US invasion glorified as new martyrs. It's unclear whether the petition is to the Vatican or to all the hierarchies of the various churches present in the country, but it calls for the glorification of murdered Chaldean and Syrian Catholic clergy and laity in Iraq and the martyred Syriac Orthodox priests Frs. Boulos Iskandar, Yusuf Petros, and Amer Iskander (all murdered in late 2006). More here.

Holy Synod of the Church of the East Issues Statement on Ashur Soro

The Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East has issued a statement confirming its previous decisions concerning the suspension and deposition of Bishop Mar Bawai (Soro) of Modesto. Mar Bawai, now Ashur Soro, was suspended in 2005 for refusing to be removed from diocese because of his activity in advocating union between the new calendar Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church. In 2008 the Holy Synod deposed him from all episcopal and priestly rank and excommunicated him for his continued rebellion against its authority. In the meantime Ashur Soro, formerly Mar Bawai, was received into the Chaldean Catholic Church as a bishop and served for a time in the western USA before being deposed by the Chaldean Catholic Church as well. The Holy Synod of the Church of the East has issued its statement as the Holy Synod of the Chaldean Catholic Church prepares to meet in Rome to further the discuss the matter of Mr. Soro's reception into their church and the future of the ecumenical dialogue between the two churches. The statement from the Church of the East on the matter can be found here.