Christianity in Iraq

Pope Francis will visit Iraq in March 2021, the Vatican said in an unexpected Dec. 7 announcement, restarting papal travel abroad after an unprecedented year-long suspension in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Without immediate action from the international community, Christians in northern Iraq could be endangered with extinction, warns a new report from the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need.

The new Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul, Iraq, faces a challenge of rebuilding, but not just structurally.

In the aftermath of Iraq's elections, Christians want to see a government formed that is free from the sectarianism that has torn apart the country, and they want Iran's influence to diminish. Both issues have played a huge role in politics since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. 

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, blasted unnamed "career staff" at the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development for inaction that he said will lead to further genocide of Christians, Yezidis and other religious minorities in Iraq at the hands of Islamic State militants.