Archbishop Najeeb Michaeel Moussa of Mosul, Iraq states in this important and incisive interview that “the European Union has undoubtedly lagged behind the European peoples who have courageously mobilized to express their solidarity with the Christians of the East in general and the Christians of Iraq in particular.” He also states: “I think that the European Union was aware of the persecutions that have affected Christians in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, but also in Lebanon,” and yet has remained largely indifferent to this persecution.
The archbishop is being polite. The EU has willfully ignored persecuted Christians, doing virtually nothing to stop the Muslim genocide against Christians in Africa. Meanwhile, it maintains an open-door policy for Muslim migrants, even when many enter Europe illegally.
“Populist” Hungary, on the other hand, which refuses the EU’s policies on Muslim migrants in an effort to retain its Christian character, has been donating millions to help persecuted Christians and other victims of jihad.
“Archbishop of Mosul: ‘I am more afraid for Europe than I am for Iraq,'” by Marco Gombacci, European Post, October 21, 2020:
Interview to Najeeb Michaeel Moussa, finalists of the 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought proposed by Identity and Democracy group at the European Parliament. He is a Chaldean Catholic priest, archivist and scholar. In 2018 he was made Archbishop of Mosul, Iraq. Michaeel is well known for his efforts to aid the evacuation of Christians, Syrians and Chaldeans when Daesh captured Mosul in 2014. He was of great assistance to the displaced people of Mosul and the Nineveh Plain during the Daesh persecutions. The archbishop is also famous for saving a trove of ancient manuscripts, including documents belonging to the Eastern Church, which form part of the spiritual and cultural heritage of humanity….
1. You have been named and shortlisted for the Shakarov Prize 2020, the most important human right prize in Europe. Do you think Europe acknowledged the suffering of the persecuted Christians in Middle East or there was too much silence on this issue during Isis reign of terror?
I think that the European Union was aware of the persecutions that have affected Christians in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, but also in Lebanon where there are attacks such as in the village of Qaa in the northern Bekaa.
But I believe that this awareness was difficult to verbalize. Charles Peguy, a beloved author of French Catholics, reminds us that “We must see what we see” and therefore say the suffering we see even when it destabilizes our analytical grids, our geopolitical convictions, our political correctness.
The European Union has undoubtedly lagged behind the European peoples who have courageously mobilized to express their solidarity with the Christians of the East in general and the Christians of Iraq in particular. In the field, in the refugee camps, in our dioceses, in the middle of Nineveh and in Iraqi Kurdistan, we have seen dozens of volunteers who have come from Europe to express their friendship and closeness to the displaced persons and refugees. We experienced a real solidarity that was exemplary….
2. What is the future of Christians in Middle East? Are there any chance they will return to their homes? What Europe can do to help them?
There are different challenges. The first is that of rooting. Today the international community is not sufficiently aware of the danger of an East emptied of its Christians. A good part of our vocation is to be the salt of the earth in the midst of devastation and tension. What will happen if we leave?
Some are already returning because they realize that the West is not the lost Paradise, nor the delights of the “Hanging Gardens of Babel” that they were promised. They also return because they are spiritually and culturally oriental and that in their path of identity, a return to the land of their fathers is often a stage of construction or reconstruction….
3. What is your advise to Europe on how to deal with terrorism and fundamental islamists? Do you see any danger in the open doors policies on migration?
My first lesson is that of faith. Islamism fills a void, an emptiness. In the East, we often look at Europe with envious eyes. But we have retained natural values: the defense and promotion of the family, living faith, pride in our identities and our roots. All things that I see slowly disappearing in Europe. I said it in the European Parliament: “I am more afraid for Europe than I am for Iraq”. Here, in some ways, we have lost everything; here, you neglect the importance of your treasures, your cultures, your civilization. And you sometimes give way to fundamentalist or Salafist movements that gradually impose their ideologies on those around them, to become bearers of hatred and disrespect for the countries that welcome them.
This approach must be the first. Secondly, one would have to be short-sighted not to see that Europe is naive in the face of terrorism and uncontrolled and unattended immigration. As a human and Christian, I believe in the primordial place of the neighbor and to immerse it. They will always find in me the heart of a brother who loves them. I am also in love with European cultures: they will always find in me a friend who advises them. Not all these people come to love you, or to serve the countries that welcome them. If you do not control and fight the outlaws, and those who refuse the values of your country and human rights, and impose their own laws, you will lose your way of life, your culture, your peace. For Catholics, naivety is not charity, prudence is. It is indispensable to have an eye for love, and an eye for prudence, this is how you are invited to look at migration.
As for terrorism, if you do not make it disappear by law and firmness, it is you and your children who are exposed to the danger of kneeling….
We must fear false gods, slavers, violence and the sword, and not turn away from the God of love and peace. Christians all over the world are undergoing a real ordeal, and always give martyrs, because of the fanaticism of a god of sword and violence. Unfortunately, you also have your martyrs murdered by the same ideology and by the same fanatical groups. All over Europe, people are falling because of the expansionist Islamist ideology. Father Hamel and his assassination, like many other innocent victims in Europe, should have been an occasion for awareness and vigilance. Too bad that was not the case. Europe: Wake up[.]