Persecuted and Forgotten? Westminster Mass and Event
Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, Iraq with Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, following Mass at the Cathedral.
17 March 2011 17:30
Westminster Cathedral
Ambrosden Avenue
London
SW1P 1QW
Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil in Iraq was guest of honour at a special Mass and event to mark the launch of the 2011 edition of Aid to the Church in Need's report on Christians oppressed for their faith, Persecuted and Forgotten?
On Thursday, 17th March, Archbishop Warda concelebrated 5.30pm Mass at Westminster Cathedral with Archbishop Vincent Nichols.
Earlier in the day Archbishop Warda met with Dr Rowan Williams, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury.
Dr Williams said "not enough people here are aware of" the suffering facing Iraq's Christians.
Click here for Dr Williams's statement on Iraq.
At 7.00pm in the Cathedral Hall, Archbishop Warda gave a personal witness of the situation Christians face in Iraq.
Describing the problems faced by Christains in Iraq he said that since 2003, an estimated 403 to 573 Christians have been killed
He went on to tell how 66 churches have been attacked or bombed since the first Iraqi church was bombed in Mosul in June 2004 in Mosul.
"But," he said "this is not a time to hide our faith or our identity over such struggles.
"In Iraq, 40 years of war and oppression have strengthened our endurance and our resolve to stand strong and to claim our legal and historical right as a Church and as a people in Iraq.
"We have not come this far to give up."
Read the full text of Archbishop Warda's talk here.
John Pontifex, Aid to the Church in Need's head of press and information and editor of Persecuted and Forgotten? also gave an overview of the persecution Christians in many countries face for their faith.