WASHINGTON, D.C. - Iraqi Christians face “extinction” unless Islam recognizes the fundamental equality of all people and takes steps to overcome violent factions that seek to force religious minorities from the country, said Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Irbil. “The truth is that there is a foundational crisis within Islam itself, and if this crisis is not acknowledged, addressed and fixed, then there can be no future for civil society in the Middle East or indeed anywhere Islam brings itself to bear upon a host nation,” Warda told Aid to the Church in Need.

The archbishop voiced his concerns in an interview, the transcript of which was released by the organization Aug. 6, the fifth anniversary of the Islamic State group overrunning Christian communities on the Ninevah Plain in northern Iraq. The Islamic State group’s violence “shocked the conscience of the world” as well as Islamic majority nations, Warda said.

Crux - Chaldean archbishop: Iraqi Christians face ‘extinction’ unless world acts