The Church in Iraq

The persecution of the church in Iraq is one of the great tragedies of the twenty-first century. The Church in Iraq is both a diligent record and loving testimonial to a community that is struggling desperately to exist. Cardinal Filoni, the former Papal Nuncio to Iraq, guides the reader through almost two thousand years of history, telling the story of a people who trace their faith hack to the Apostle Thomas. This is the compelling and rich history of the Christian communities in a land that was once the frontier between Rome and Persia, for centuries the crossroads of East and West for armies of invaders and merchants, and the cradle of all human civilization. Its unique cultural legacy has, in the past few years, been all but obliterated. In this short yet sweeping account, Cardinal Filoni shows us the people and the faith in the land of Abraham and Babylon, a region that over the centuries has been home to Persians, Parthians, Byzantines, Mongols, Ottomans, and more. The diversity of the peoples and churches is brought deftly into focus through the lens of their interactions with the papacy, but The Church in Iraq does not shy away from the local political, ethnic, and theological tensions that have resulted in centuries of communion and schism. Never losing his focus on the people to whom this book is so clearly dedicated, Cardinal Filoni has produced a personal and engaging history of the relationship between Rome and the Eastern churches, 'this book has much to teach its reader about the church in the Near East. Perhaps its most brutal lesson is the ease with which such a depth of history and culture can be wiped away in a few short decades.