The Catholic News Agency published an article today that deserves our attention, our sadness, and our prayers. Here’s the beginning:

Persecution leading Iraqi Christians to draw harsh conclusions

By Alan Holdren, Rome Correspondent

Rome, Italy, Dec 17, 2010 / 02:40 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- With Christmas fast approaching, Iraqi Christians are coming to the hard realization that there may be a day when there are no more Christians left in their homeland.

“Christians are being extinguished in Iraq, while Iraq remains Muslim,” said Father Georges Jahola, a Syro-Catholic priest from Mosul, Iraq currently studying in Rome.

Those who remain want to leave because they do not feel safe, he said. “They see that there is no longer a place for Christians in Iraq. Even for us as a Church, we cannot deny it.” (continue reading)