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OS CRISTÃOS DO IRAQUE © ACN Índice OS CRISTÃOS DO IRAQUE © ACN Índice: 1 O Médio Oriente ................................................................................................................................ 3 1.1. A presença cristã no Médio Oriente ................................................................................................. 3 1.2. A emigração dos Cristãos do Médio Oriente .................................................................................... 6 2. O país ................................................................................................................................................. 7 2.1 Iraque................................................................................................................................................. 8 2.2. A Demografia..................................................................................................................................... 9 2.3 O berço da civilização - antiga terra bíblica e cristã ....................................................................... 10 2.4. A distribuição dos Cristãos nas regiões iraquianas ....................................................................... 11 2.5. Os Cristãos no Iraque de acordo com a sua denominação ............................................................ 12 2.6. A Igreja Católica no Iraque ............................................................................................................. 13 2.7. Projecções do desenvolvimento da população cristã no Iraque ................................................... 14 3. Cristãos em perigo ........................................................................................................................... 15 3.1. Um alvo da violência ainda antes do Daesh .................................................................................. 16 3.2. O Daesh ataca os Cristãos .............................................................................................................. 16 3.3. O rescaldo de 3 anos de guerra contra o Daesh (1) ....................................................................... 17 O rescaldo de 3 anos de guerra contra o Daesh (2)............................................................................... 18 O rescaldo de 3 anos de guerra contra o Daesh (3).............................................................................. 19 3.4. A destruição do património cristão e das propriedades da Igreja no Iraque pelo Daesh (1)......... 21 A destruição do património cristão e das propriedades da Igreja no Iraque pelo Daesh(2)................ 23 A destruição do património cristão e das propriedades da Igreja no Iraque pelo Daesh(3)................ 24 4. A ajuda da AIS .................................................................................................................................. 25 4.1. Síntese da ajuda da AIS no Iraque de 2011-2021 .......................................................................... 26 4.2. Primeiras ajudas após o início da guerra em Agosto 2014- Junho de 2015 .................................. 26 4.3. Projectos da AIS de reabilitação e criação da Comissão para a Reconstrução de Nínive ............ 28 4.4. O regresso dos Cristãos ................................................................................................................. 28 4.5. Casas reconstruídas ....................................................................................................................... 29 4.6. A reconstrução da Igreja: Al-Tahira ............................................................................................... 29 4.7. A reconstrução como hipótese de sobrevivência do Cristianismo a longo prazo ........................ 31 5. Desafios pela frente ......................................................................................................................... 32 5.1. Os principais problemas ................................................................................................................ 33 5.2. Razões para a emigração .............................................................................................................. 34 5.3. O problema da segurança dos Cristãos ......................................................................................... 34 5.4. Questões económicas .................................................................................................................... 34 5.5. O esquecimento por parte das entidades estrangeiras ................................................................ 35 5.6. Discriminação religiosa .................................................................................................................. 36 6. Sinais positivos? ............................................................................................................................... 37 © Fundação AIS - Fevereiro de 2021 Edição: María Lozano Grafismo: Maria Pairetty [email protected] 1. O Médio Oriente 1.1. A presença cristã no Médio Oriente A maioria dos Cristãos do Médio Oriente são árabes ou, em menor número, pertencem às comunidades há muito estabelecidas, tal como os Assírios ou os Arménios. Actualmente, a maioria pertence a Igrejas de rito Ortodoxo: Coptas, Greco-ortodoxos e Siríacos. Os Católicos constituem uma minoria em toda a comunidade cristã na região. 3 © ACN 4 POPULAÇÃO CRISTÃ NO MÉDIO ORIENTE PEW RESEARCH CENTER 2010 TURQUIA CHIPRE SÍRIA LÁBANO IRÃO ISRAEL IRAQUE PALESTINA JORDÂNIA KUWAIT EGIPTO BARÉM ARÁBIA SAUDITA CATAR E.A.U. OMÃ POPULAÇÃO CRISTÃ NO MÉDIO ORIENTE PEW RESEARCH CENTER 2010 MENOS DE 1% 5-20% IÉMEN 1-5% MAIS DE 20% CHRISTIAN POPULATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST PEW RESEARCH CENTER 2010 EGIPTO- 4.120.000 IRÃO - 110.000 JORDÂNIA - 130.000 KUWAIT - 390.000 ISRAEL - 150.000 BARÉM - 180.000 PALESTINA - 100.000 CATAR - 240.000 LÍBANO - 1.620.000 E.A.U. - 940.000 CHIPRE - 810.000 OMÃ - 180.000 TURQUIA - 320.000 ARÁBIA SAUDITA - 1.200.000 SÍRIA - 1.060.000 IÉMEN - 40.000 IRAQUE - 270.000 5 1.2. A emigração dos Cristãos do Médio Oriente Estes são os factores mais importantes que estão na origem do êxodo cristão do Médio Oriente com impacto no número de Cristãos no Médio Oriente: • conflitos militares graves e de longa duração, • situação sociodemográfica e socioeconómica, • influência da mentalidade política e legal muçulmana, • aparecimento de novos movimentos islâmicos , • recusa dos direitos de cidadania plena, • reaparecimento do Islão político, que levou à formação do Estado Islâmico no Iraque e na Síria (Daesh). ÊXODO Percentagem % da população Cristã 20 SÍRIA ESTIMATIVA EGIPTO 15 PALESTINA 10 ISRAEL IRAQUE 5 E.A.U. ARÁBIA SAUDITA 0 1900 25 50 75 2000 25 Fonte: World Religion Database 6 © ACN/Jaco Klamer 2. O país 7 2.1 Iraque • A República do Iraque está dividida em 19 províncias. • Em 2020 havia 40 milhões de habitantes, de acordo com a ONU. • A capital, e a maior cidade, é Bagdade, seguida por Basra no Sul e Mossul. • As línguas oficiais do Iraque são o árabe e o curdo. • O Iraque está em 5º lugar no que diz respeito aos recursos petrolíferos do mundo. DOHUK ERBIL NINÍVE KIRKUK AL-SULAYMANIYAH SALAHAD DIN DIYALA BAGDADE AL ANBAR WASIT KARBALA BABIL AL-QADISIYYAH MAYSAN AL-NAJAF DHI QAR BASRA AL-MUTHANNA 8 2.2 A Demografia • O Islão é a religião maioritária com uma população mista de xiita e sunita. • Os Árabes são a maior comunidade étnica. • A etnia curda habita maioritariamente no Norte, onde estabeleceu autonomia com o Governo Regional Curdo (GRC). Muitos cristãos encontraram refúgio aí. Todos os lugares na Planície de Nínive de cariz cristão fazem parte dos territórios disputados do Iraque, reivindicados tanto pelo GRC como pelo Governo Central em Bagdade. Em teoria, uma votação deveria regularizar esta situação, mas não há sinal de que essa votação seja possível. Neste momento Bagdade controla a área. RETRATO ÉTNICO-RELIGIOSO XIITAS ÁRABES 58-63% RELIGIÕES NO IRAQUE OUTROS 5% SUNITAS OUTROS ÁRABES 5% 17% TURCOMANOS ÁRABES SUNITAS Y ZIDI 75-80% CURDOS A S 15-20% SHABAK KAKAI BEDUINOS ROMA ASSÍRIOS CIRCASSIANOS CURDOS 15-20% PERSSAS SABEAN-MADIANITAS 9 2.3 O berço da civilização - antiga terra bíblica e cristã A região entre os rios Tigre e Eufrates, historicamente conhecida como Mesopotâmia, é frequentemente chamada de berço da civilização. Os Cristãos do Iraque são uma das mais antigas comunidades cristãs constantes do mundo. O Cristianismo foi levado para o Iraque no séc. I. Os territórios do Iraque de hoje são conhecidos através da Bíblia e acredita-se que o paraíso do Livro do Génesis tenha sido localizado no Iraque de hoje. O mesmo acontece com: a construção da Torre de Babel, o dilúvio de Noé, a terra natal de Abraão – Ur na caldeia, o encontro de Jacob e Raquel, a cova dos leões, onde Daniel estava preso, a fornalha ardente, onde os três jovens hebreus foram colocadas por Nabucodonosor, rei da Babilónia, que mantinha os Judeus em cativeiro, os episódios do livro de Ester, a actividade dos profetas: Amós, Ezequiel, etc. Governorate Boundary Road River Antes da II Guerra Mundial: 20% A POPULAÇÃO CRISTÃ NO MÉDIO ORIENTE ACTUALMENTE: 4% 10 2.4 A Distribuição dos Cristãos nas regiões iraquianas Os Cristãos Iraquianos vivem, ao lado de outras comunidades, principalmente: • na capital Bagdade • na cidade do sul Basra • e principalmente no Norte, especialmente nas províncias de Erbil, Dohuk, Sulaymaniyah e Kirkuk e na província de Ninewa com a Planície de Nínive, onde se situam muitas cidades e aldeias cristãs. Historicamente, os Cristãos instalaram-se no Norte.
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