Traumatized Iraqi Christians have also relocated within the country. The predominant flow of refugees has been away from the violence of central and southern Iraq and toward Kurdistan in the north, which had been the historic heartland of the ancient Mesopotamian Christian communities. There the refugees have encountered a somewhat better situation, although not without immediate problems and long-term uncertainties.

The Christian community in Iraq has suffered great loss in the decade since the U.S. invasion of 2003. Is there a ray of hope now that Iraq’s Assyrian, Chaldean, Armenian, and other Christians can find a secure future in the Kurdistan region? This was the possibility contemplated at a December 5 conference sponsored by Catholic University in Washington, DC.

Since 2003, Iraqi Christian homes, businesses, and churches have been targets of repeated violent attacks—bombings, shootings, kidnappings, arsons—perpetrated by militias aligned with other religious and ethnic groups. The central government has often been unwilling or unable to provide effective protection.

Although other Iraqis may identify the Christians with the United States and its western allies, in fact the Christians have gained little from the now fading U.S. presence. Many have fled the country. Most estimates now place Iraq’s Christian population at less than half of the million-plus that it was in 2003.

Traumatized Christians have also relocated within the country. The predominant flow of refugees has been away from the violence of central and southern Iraq and toward Kurdistan in the north, which had been the historic heartland of the ancient Mesopotamian Christian communities. There the refugees have encountered a somewhat better situation, although not without immediate problems and long-term uncertainties.

The questions engaged at the December 5 conference were: To what extent should Iraqi Christians tie their fate to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and support it against the federal government in Baghdad? Should they seek a Christian-friendly enclave in or near Iraqi Kurdistan, or should they aim to integrate themselves into the broader Iraqi or Kurdish society? Or will emigration abroad be their only option in the end?

‘There Has to Be a Shining City on the Hill’

Many conference panelists were enthusiastic about prospects in Iraqi Kurdistan. It is “the place that displaced Christians run away to,” according to Catholic University law professor Robert Destro, director of the program sponsoring the conference. “There has to be a shining city on the hill” exemplifying religious freedom in the Middle East, and Destro thought the Kurdish region could be that place.

The Very Rev. Dr. James Kowalski hailed “the possibility to build [in Iraqi Kurdistan] a society that would be a beacon of light that protects all people.” Kowalski, dean of the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, was a member of a Catholic University-sponsored delegation that visited the region in November 2012.

Also part of the delegation was Armenian Church of America Archbishop Vicken Aykazian. The archbishop recounted that he had expected to witness disorder in Iraqi Kurdistan; however, “to my surprise, I saw a real country—a beautiful country.” Aykazian told how “Kurdistan became a safe haven for Christians,” and “the [regional] government is building churches, schools, community centers for them.” He reported that “Christians today feel very comfortable” in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Another member of the November delegation, evangelical communications consultant Larry Ross, was even more ebullient. “Kurdistan is a success story,” he declared. “In Kurdistan we saw the principles of Jesus lived out.” Ross described “the faith community there” as “a bouquet of flowers.” He asserted a unity of the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism is “the faith of Jesus”; Islam is “faith with Jesus,” because it holds him to be a prophet; and Christianity is “faith in Jesus,” Ross remarked.

Iraqi-American activist Raad Ayar was more restrained. “Kurdistan is not a perfect place for us [Christians] to live,” he admitted, “but it is the only place [in Iraq] we can live.” Ayar contended that “we need to make Kurdistan a sample of democracy.” He was hopeful, as “Kurdish people want to be democratic and secular.” The Chaldean activist stated his conviction that “we need to support Kurdistan against aggressions” from Baghdad.

Brendan O’Leary, a Political Science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, presented results of surveys he had done of Christians in the Kurdistan region. O’Leary concluded that “the Kurdistan Regional Government treats the Christians of the Kurdish region very well.” The Christians with whom he had talked expressed a high view of Kurdish President Massoud Barzani, and they voiced no complaints against the Kurdish military. Refugees from the rest of Iraq were grateful for their reception by the KRG. “My view is that they [Iraqi Christians] should align with the Kurdish region,” O’Leary opined. “That is the best hope for a feasible future.”

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