Many hope their struggle to endure will get a boost from a historic visit by Pope Francis planned in March. Many Christians who fled the Daesh advance have either stayed in Iraq’s Kurdistan region or started new lives abroad. Christians were among groups targeted by militants amid the breakdown in security after the 2003 US-led invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein. The Chaldean Catholic Patriarch, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, estimated that 1 million Christians have left Iraq since 2003 and about 500,000 remained. Without faith the government can provide security from potential violence, legal protections and economic opportunities, many Christians are wary of returning.

Source: Ethiopian News February 24, 2021 06:30 UTC