ICC Note: Leaders in the world of Christian persecution and relief have outlined the ways in which everyday americans can help Middle East Christians. Carol Anderson of the Knights of Columbus called on Christians to speak out, to pray, to offer aid, and to pressure politicians. The ancient Christian communities of the Middle East speak the same language Jesus himself spoke. They should have the right to exist without fear of genocide.

08/08/2016 Middle East (New Boston Post): Middle East Christians need help to survive, and leaders in the relief effort have outlined what the average Catholic can do.

“They can speak out. They should talk with their parish. And they should pray,” Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, told CNA Aug. 3.

Echoing his call to action was Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil in northern Iraq.

“Pray for them. Tell their story. Raise awareness about persecution. Give aid,” he said. The archbishop encouraged Americans and Canadians to try to put pressure on their politicians “to really adjust the whole political vision of America, Canada and the Middle East.”

The plight of Middle East Christians and other minorities was a major focus of the Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus held in Toronto. Several Middle East bishops attended alongside other bishops and the order’s delegates from around the world.

The convention came exactly two years after the Islamic State group’s capture of Mosul and the expulsion of tens of thousands of Christians. In Iraq’s neighbor Syria, civil war has raged for five years, with the Christian minority especially affected.

“These communities that still speak the language of Jesus have the right to continue,” Anderson told reporters Wednesday. “They must have equal rights.”

He called on Western governments to make aid conditional on human rights for minorities.

“The perpetrators of genocide must be brought to justice,” he said.

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