Young Christians seek future prospects for Iraq

The PRO ORIENTE foundation and the ecumenical group “We Choose Abundant Life” organize youth workshops in several Middle Eastern countries, in which young people from different churches participate. The aim of the workshops is to network the participants and to explore possibilities for increased church and civil society engagement in the countries of the Middle East. The most recent workshop took place a few days ago in northern Iraq. Twenty-two young people from different parts of Kurdistan took part in the workshop in the (predominantly Christian) city of Ankawa near Erbil. They belonged to four churches: the Chaldean Catholic, Syrian Orthodox and Syrian Catholic Church, as well as the Assyrian Church of the East. Some participants also came from the Dominican order.

Viola Raheb is responsible for the project on behalf of the PRO ORIENTE Foundation. She was also present in Ankawa. Raheb reported that many of the young people had already experienced war, expulsion, flight and violence at a young age. Many no longer live in their original hometowns. Some originally came from Mosul or Bagdad. These experiences naturally determine the lives and perspectives of young people, even if this is rarely discussed. “The participants' skepticism about the future, also with regard to peaceful coexistence in Iraq, can be explained by this,” said Raheb. Some of the young people repeatedly emphasized the question of God in times of horror and how important faith, prayer and community are, especially in such times; also therapeutically.

For most of the young adults, the workshop was the first gathering of its kind. According to Raheb, they had previously had neither opportunity for networking within their own church nor with like-minded young Christians from other churches. Being part of the ecumenical group was particularly moving for the young people from the Assyrian Church.

As one young participant put it: “During these days, I have met brothers and sisters in faith, experienced the strength of the community and thus have more hope that together we can better meet the challenges.”

18 future challenges

The young people identified 18 challenges for the future presence of young people in Iraq. Similar to other countries in the Middle East, the challenges are a mixture of political, economic, social, and internal church issues. Among other things, the young adults would like to see more attention from church leaders to their concerns and aspirations.

When asked what they would take with them from this three-day workshop, the young people formulated above all hope, respect for and acceptance of others. They wanted to listen to others, accept them and live in the spirit of cooperation and community and, in particular, the unity lived in Christ. One young participant noted: “During these days, I have met brothers and sisters in faith, experienced the strength of the community and thus have more hope that we can better overcome challenges together.” Accordingly, the young people want to continue the work they began in the workshop together in the future.

Viola Raheb's conclusion: “The visit to Iraq is associated with two different feelings. On the one hand, it is depressing to experience the difficult living conditions and the lack of opportunities for young people. On the other hand, I am moved by the faith of the young people, by their longing for ecumenical cooperation and by their thirst for knowledge. The feedback from the young people, according to whom they were not only able to learn about ecumenism and synodality in this workshop, but also to live and experience it during the three days, fills me with gratitude.”

Invitation to Bagdad

In a conversation with Viola Raheb, the Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako praised the project. Sako said that many more such ecumenical initiatives were needed. He also extended an invitation to PRO ORIENTE and the “We choose abundant life” group to organize a similar workshop in the Iraqi capital, Bagdad. The next PRO ORIENTE youth workshops for participants from the Holy Land and Egypt are scheduled for September. A workshop is also planned in Syria, for which the date has not yet been set. The first workshop took place in Beirut (Lebanon) in March, followed by a second one in Amman (Jordan) in May and a third one in Bethlehem (Palestine) in June.