Iraqi Christians are becoming extremely vulnerable, say Christian groups that have cited increased marginalisation of the religious minority after Sunday's church bombings.

|PIC1|The World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission has requested specific prayers for the Christians of Iraq as the threat level rises against the already dwindling population. In a weekly Religious Liberty Prayer bulletin released on Tuesday, the commission dubbed the Christians as being "endangered" in an Islamic society with increasing sectarian tensions.

"As people, groups and whole communities start to identify by religious affiliation rather than their common Iraqi nationality, the Christian minority find themselves increasingly despised, marginalized and exposed," the commission wrote.

Sunday's explosions occurred outside five Iraqi churches, killing a 13-year-old Christian on his way to mass and a Muslim couple living near a targeted church in Kirkuk. Evangelical congregations in Baghdad, where four of the car bombings were synchronized, cancelled services that night.

One priest from the Assyrian Church of the East said the attacks were clearly coordinated and planned, according to the Open Doors ministry. Many view them as a direct strike on the Christian minority, linking the attacks back to an anger that was ignited months past among Muslims.

Last September, the conservative Danish daily Jyllands-Posten sparked controversy when it published 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The caricatures, which included Mohammed wearing a time-bomb shaped turban, caused boycotts of products and widespread Muslim condemnation of the Danish government's stance. Religious and political leaders throughout the Arab world made public statements denouncing the cartoons.

|TOP|Father Louis Sako, Chaldean Archbishop of Kirkuk, said at a bombed victim's funeral service Monday that the church had nothing to do with the cartoons and that they represented the views of one individual.

The cartoons were reprinted Jan. 10 in a Norwegian Christian publication Magazinet, inflaming past anger and protest from the pulpit in a Muslim outcry. The reappearance was said to be a gesture of solidarity with the Danish newspaper, according to Agence France Presse, with both publications calling the whole affair an attack on freedom of expression.

Recent reports showed Christian students at two universities were attacked by Muslim classmates. Christians denied the reports Monday, one Iraqi Christian told Open Doors.

Iraq's Muslim Ulema Council had released a statement after Sunday's bombings, declaring, "This is not the way to deal with the newspaper that has offended the prophet Mohammad," according to the WEA RLC.

|AD|The German Society for Endangered Peoples, meanwhile, fears the attacks could lead to a mass emigration of Iraqi Christians, with many fleeing to northern Iraq, or the country altogether. Open Doors released a statement also expressing concern over an exodus of Christians from the country.

"These attacks could also lead to a renewed effort by Iraqi Christians to leave the country altogether," said Open Doors personnel working in the region.

"Iraqi Christians are extremely vulnerable," stated the WEA RLC. "They are endangered, without equality before the (Islamic) law, having no clan networks and retaliation ideology, and lacking security in a lawless Islamic society."

The commission calls believers to pray for the protection of the Iraqi Christians, their spiritual unity, and their growth in wisdom, faith and prayer for the Holy Spirit to descend upon their nation.






Lillian Kwon
Christian Today Correspondent