‘Your Liberal And Democratic Principles Are Worth Nothing Here’
By Rod Dreher • August 18, 2014, 5:54 AM

Archbishop Amel Nona, the Chaldean Catholic Archeparch of Mosul, gave an interview from exile to Corriere della Sera. The man was blunt:

    Our sufferings today are the prelude of those you, Europeans and Western Christians, will also suffer in the near future. I lost my diocese. The physical setting of my apostolate has been occupied by Islamic radicals who want us converted or dead. But my community is still alive.

    Please, try to understand us. Your liberal and democratic principles are worth nothing here. You must consider again our reality in the Middle East, because you are welcoming in your countries an ever growing number of Muslims. Also you are in danger. You must take strong and courageous decisions, even at the cost of contradicting your principles. You think all men are equal, but that is not true: Islam does not say that all men are equal. Your values are not their values. If you do not understand this soon enough, you will become the victims of the enemy you have welcomed in your home.

[H/T: Rorate Caeli]

The Chaldean Catholic Church traces its roots back to Thomas the Apostle, one of the original 12 apostles with Jesus Christ. The church grew widely between the 9th and 14th centuries in the Middle East. The actual diocese of Mosul was established in 1967, with the main church being St. Paul’s Cathedral, and as an Eastern Rite Church is in communion with the Western Rite Catholic Church, under the authority of Pope Francis.