Iraqi archbishop laments spread of Iranian conflict, communication barrier with Tehran archbishop

An Iraqi Catholic archbishop said his flock is frightened and communication with Tehran’s archbishop has been impossible as the Iranian conflict escalates.

Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda of Erbil, the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, told “EWTN News Nightly” that the situation is “quite frightening” because the Christian community is once more asking: “Will it reach us? Will we have to really leave again? Will our children have a future?”

Warda said the situation is particularly sensitive for Iraq’s Christian population, which has seen “almost 50 years of continuous violence,” including eight years of war with Iran, followed by the first and second Gulf wars, as well as sectarian violence.

“All of these memories,” he said, are “still there.”

Warda said schools and universities in the region have been closed for nearly a week, and “the economy is collapsing.” All the while, he said, there is fear that “around every three, four hours, Erbil would be hit by either rockets or drones.”

“The fear is there,” he said. “And the scope of violence is just getting bigger, because following the news, we see new countries being attacked and new places being attacked.”

“Erbil [has been] targeted a few times so far,” he said, “and we know the largest Iraqi Christian gathering is in Erbil, and this might be another reason for the Christians to say, ‘There is no future.’”

In Iraq, regional and local reporting said drones attempted to target Erbil International Airport and were intercepted.

Warda said his “biggest fear” is that Christian families who were previously committed to remaining in Iraq will decide to flee the region due to ongoing instability. “These types of wars and conflicts will shake everything,” he said, regardless of what has been done to “really build something for the Christian community to stay.”

Regarding efforts to get in contact with Archbishop Dominique Joseph Mathieu of Tehran, Iran, Warda said: “We have tried several times. But there is no communication whatsoever.”

Warda said he asked one of the Chaldean religious sisters currently working in his diocese about her family, who live in Iran, but she has not been able to reach them.

“Sadly enough, there is no communication whatsoever with that part of the world,” he said, noting loss of power and communication lines in Iran.

“We are praying for the community there,” he said.

Amid the conflict, Warda said attendance at morning Mass and evening prayer in the community has been “really great.” The community has canceled its weekly catechism classes, however, as well as its annual Ankawa Youth Gathering, the largest gathering of young people in Iraq.