Friar Whit, who directs the British-based Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, also wrote about the ongoing extermination campaign the Islamic Caliphate is running.
"In reality that is true. Iraq seems like old news, yet things just get worse and worse here," he said. "It is as if hell has broken out here and nobody cares, that is, apart form you, our supporters, who never leave us and keep supporting us in every way. The situation is so serious and it is very easy to feel forgotten."
In late July the Islamic State declared itself a Caliphate, and released videos depicting mass executions, and warnings that this will continue. Christians, who have been in Iraq for thousands of years were given three options: convert to Sunni Islam, pay the jizya (a tax on non-Muslims) or leave.
"Even here in Baghdad, people are terrified of what is happening around us," White added. "The Islamic State has established their hidden cells within Baghdad, and people are seriously under threat even though they are not in the areas controlled by the Islamic State. The number of kidnappings here has soared, and people simply do not know what is going to happen next."
Archbishop Maroun Lahham, a patriarchal vicar for Jordan in the Latin Patriarchate sent out a plea for prayers for an enduring Middle East peace during a special Mass held in the Jordanian capital of Amman.
"The oppressors do not last. We ask God to remove the fear from the hearts of the oppressors so as to become a party that believes in peace and is capable of making peace," he said.
"What is happening nowadays in Gaza in particular, and what is happening every day in Iraq, Syria and Libya happened in the past and now is being repeated-every time this situation is absolutely repeated without any change," he added.
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