A minibus for pastoral work in Basra

Today, Christians are only a very small minority in Iraq. Up until the year 2002—before the Third Gulf War—there were still over 1.2 million of them, but war, persecution, and poverty led to a mass exodus of the Christian population. Estimates today put the number of Christians remaining 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 has echoes of the tale of One 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 Middle Eastern folktales. The city was the scene of heavy fighting in all three Gulf wars and suffered widespread destruction, the consequences of which can still be seen today.

In Basra, only around five percent of the Christians who once lived here still remain, 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. The archbishop therefore asked for our help to enable the Sacred Heart Parish of the Syrian Catholic Church to purchase a minibus to transport the children in a quick, simple, and safe manner to catechism classes in the parish centre. 

Our benefactors generously donated the $29,908 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.”