Carmel in Iraq

The continuing agony of the Christians in Iraq is now a commonplace and has been mentioned often. The Carmelite Order has participated fully in the slow martyrdom. This text is from "Communicatio" a regular letter from the generalate of the Discalced Order. It is taken from correspondence received from the brothers in Iraq:

“Our life in Baghdad is always difficult and extremely tragic. There is still, even now, no sign of an improvement in spite of the initiation of a new security plan. I continue to worry for the victims of terrorism which increases all the time. Only today two Christian friends died at the hands of muslim extremists. A week ago I lost another friend due to an explosion caused by a car-bomb at the entrance to the university. The tragedy is that such terrorist crimes have become a normal part of everyday life. What goes on outside has an effect on our community life. The young brothers hardly ever leave the house, except to accompany me to the conferences which I organize. I sometimes wonder about the wisdom of letting them accompany me, given the great danger. The fear of an attack on our churches, priories is always there. Christians continue to escape from Baghdad to Syria or Jordan.
We no longer get money from the rental of some houses in Baghdad, which was used to help support the population. The tenants are unable to pay their rent, because they cannot work in this situation. Some tenants have threatened us when we have asked them to pay the rent.
But our presence in Baghdad is today even more important, because the local churches are diminishing. Many priests have left for the Kurdish region in the north, or have left entirely. It is a situation which the protestant churches, with their American minister, are exploiting. Our church is well attended. We are looking for ways to welcome more young people. During the week the congregation tends to be mostly retired people. We are praying for a good Easter. We are grateful for your prayers which we truly appreciate….”