By Theodore Shoebat
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ (Philippians 3:18)
Muslims entered churches in Iraq, tore out all of the crosses, and replaced them with the antichrist black flags of Islam. The Muslims are doing the same in Syria. Here is a photo taken in Raqqa of Muslims removing a cross from the top of a church:
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants reportedly have occupied both Mosul’s Chaldean Catholic and Syriac Orthodox cathedrals, removing the crosses at the front of the buildings and replacing them with the Islamic state’s black flag.
The Vatican’s Fides missionary news agency confirmed July 16 reports that the militants instructed government workers to not hand out rations food and cooking fuel to all Christians, Kurds and Shiite Muslims in Mosul.
Workers ignoring the orders were threatened to be charged and prosecuted according to Shariah law, Vatican Radio reported.
Homes once belonging to Christians in Mosul were also being singled out and marked “with the letter ‘N,’ ‘N’ for Nazarat,” which means Christian, Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni of Baghdad told BaghdadHope, an Italian blog that posts news about the church in Iraq.
The abandoned homes are then occupied by Sunni supporters of the caliphate, Vatican Radio reported.
There are many problems in the Christian villages in the North, which have welcomed people fleeing areas now controlled by the militant forces, he said July 16. “There’s no infrastructure, especially for supplying water and electricity, and with it being summer, this is much more than a mere inconvenience.” The villages received electricity from Mosul, but those supplies have been cut off.
The wells that the church is building along with UNICEF are not enough, he said, adding that as head of Caritas Iraq, he was launching an appeal for help in “alleviating these very difficult conditions for these people who in many cases have lost everything.”
Meanwhile, Patriarch Sako wrote members of the Iraqi parliament, urging them to “waste no more time” and to quickly choose a president and prime minister to “save the country from the dangers of anarchy and disintegration.”
A functioning government is needed as well as a fresh push among all citizens to work together and include everyone in building the country’s future, Archbishop Giorgio Lingua, apostolic nuncio to Jordan and Iraq, told Vatican Radio July 11.
“If there is the willingness to include everyone in planning the future of Iraq, well then those who invaded will lose local support. They came in very easily because there was so much discontent,” he said.
As soon as all facets of Iraqi society feel represented in national government “then these (occupying) forces will lose support from the locals,” he said.
Archbishop Lingua said “a miracle is needed” to keep the situation from deteriorating even further into armed conflict, and he called for prayers from all over the world.
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