Christians are today only a very small minority within Iraq. Up till the year 2002 – before the third Gulf War – there were still over 1.2 million of them, but now war, persecution and poverty have led to a mass exodus by the Christian population of the country. Estimates today now put the number of Christians still remaining there at only around 150,000.
The city of Basra has a population of around 1.4 million, making it the third largest in Iraq. Lying on the Persian Gulf, it is the major port city of the country. Established as early as the seventh century, it is has echhoes of the tale of the Thousand and One Nights as the place where Sinbad the sailor set out on his many adventures.
However, little remains today of the magic of those Oriental fairytales. The city was the scene of heavy fighting in all three Gulf wars and suffered widespread destruction, the consequences of which are still to be seen today.
In Basra only around five percent of the Christians who once lived here are still remaining, and yet Archbishop Atanasius Firas Mundher Dardar, of the Syrian Catholic Church, nevertheless tells us that the Church still wants to give hope to these people. A vital element of this is the religious education of the children, and this is the reason why the Archbishop asked for our help. For the Sacred Heart Parish of the Syrian Catholic Church urgently needed a minibus so as to be able to bring the children of the parish quickly, simply and safely to the catechism classes in the parish centre.
Thanks to the generosity of our benefactors, we were able to give him the 21,363 Euros he needed to purchase this minibus. It has been welcomed with great joy, and the Archbishop has written to us, saying, „We pray to our Heavenly Father to bless you and all your benefactors and your mission in the Middle East, and in Iraq especially.”