CEC hosts Iraqi archbishop for talk on persecution

The Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture hosted Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, Iraq, for a talk on the current situation of Christian persecution in Iraq and the Middle East.  An advocate for all persecuted Christians, the archbishop has travelled across the world to raise awareness for the issues facing Christians in predominantly Muslim countries. The lecture was hosted in the Eck Center Auditorium, on February 13.

Archbishop Warda strove to answer two main questions, the first being: can Christianity survive in Iraq and the greater Islamic world?  He stated that “if there is to be any future for Christians and other religious minorities … in the Middle East, there must be a change and correction within Islam.”  

He was predominantly concerned with the ideology of political Islam, including the enshrining of sharia as state law, which causes non-Muslims to effectively become second class citizens.  He called it a “ruling system that preaches inequality and justified persecution,” which therefore needs to be stopped in order for Christians to survive.  This realization has been made by leading Muslim minds in Asia, but has not yet found its way to the Middle East, the archbishop noted.  

In reference to ISIS, the archbishop said that “while the fighting force of Daesh [ISIS] may have been defeated … the idea of the reestablishment of the caliphate has been firmly implanted in many minds throughout the Muslim world.”  He made the point that it is a change in ideology along with a prevention of violence that is key to saving the Christian presence in the Middle East.

The second question discussed was: if Christianity can survive, what is the role of the West in helping it to do so?  He highlighted a few main points:  the importance of prayer; efforts from Western leaders to support equality for minorities in countries where persecution is taking place; and material and intellectual support focused on helping create sustainable Christian communities, specifically in the realms of education and healthcare. Additionally, the archbishop cited the importance of not allowing a sense of “historical relativism” to cloud the reality of persecution.  

When asked what college students can do to actively contribute to helping persecuted Christians, he said that “praying for us is important.”  He spoke to the importance of social media to raise awareness for persecuted Christians, who, he reminded the audience, are “the most persecuted religion today.”  He referred to students who have come to help teach in schools and volunteer in these communities for anywhere from a one month to a whole year.  Finally, he called students to speak out publicly on campus, asking rhetorically, “when the next wave of violence begins to hit us, will anyone on your campus here hold demonstrations and carry signs that [say] ‘We are all Christians’?”

After the talk, Father Theodosius, a Syriac Orthodox monk at a local monastery who is involved with helping persecuted Christians, stated that we need to “pray for forgiveness and conversion,” and that “in the first forty days, [Christ] went into the desert and did battle with Satan… He prayed and fasted.”  He felt that the issues of persecution go beyond a battle against political Islam, and are in fact a battle against Satan. Therefore, a proper response requires a spiritual edge.

Zach Pearson is a freshman music and Program of Liberal Studies double major.  He once had a semi-domesticated raccoon put on his shoulders at the Grotto. If you are interested in volunteering with Christian communities in Iraq, please contact him at zpearson@nd.edu.