After the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq the Christian community of Iraq has become the frequent target of Muslim fundamentalists. The Armenian Catholic Church in Baghdad has become one of few locations to provide safe shelter to Armenians who are arriving in hundreds from all corners of the country, Armenpress reported.
In a letter to president Bush last month leading Armenian-American groups wrote to alert him of the humanitarian crisis that Iraqi Armenians are facing and to call on him to provide meaningful assistance, as part of the current emergency phase of the US aid package, to alleviate the community’s suffering
“The community of more than 30,000 suffered terribly during the war and now, months after the end of major hostilities, remains in a state of crisis,» it said. The leadership groups pointed out that “The Armenian Church and local community institutions in Iraq, despite their best efforts and the help of Armenians from abroad, find themselves unable to meet even the basic needs of the Armenian community. The network of social welfare institutions that have long sustained the Armenian community have been severely disrupted and can no longer care for those most in need.”
Due to endless explosions and shootings and the curfew introduced by US troops one of Armenian churches in Baghdad has stopped serving evening liturgies. Newborns have to wait for a more or less safe day to be baptized.
“Armenians in Iraq start feeling themselves as foreigners,” a 27-year-old Emil Saroyan, a custodian of one of the biggest churches in Iraq said. “This church was built in the 17-th century and reopened in 1998. Before the start of war the Catholic Church of Baghdad had more than 2,000 parishioners, today Armenians from all over Iraq gather here on Sundays. “Armenians fear that Muslims may force them into leaving Iraq, but we have no place to go. Many of us dream of moving to Armenia, but it too is facing tremendous challenges” he said.
He said if Armenians start leaving Iraq in mass there would remain no one to look after cultural and historical legacy developed by local community for centuries.
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