In a heartfelt prayer on the eve of the U.S. presidential election, an Iraqi priest publicly appealed for divine intervention, asking the Lord to carry a powerful chief to the USA—one who would defend persecuted Christians throughout the globe, significantly within the Center East.
The priest, whose neighborhood has confronted extreme hardship, believes that Donald Trump embodies this hope for robust management.
“This present day, November fourth, the eve of the U.S. presidential elections, I pray to the Lord for peace on the earth, particularly within the Center East, the place many international locations are affected by struggle and violence.
“I pray to the Lord to ship us leaders who can information the world—particularly right here within the Center East and in locations the place Christians are persecuted—towards peace.
We pray for you, Mr. Trump, asking the Lord to make you President of the U.S., for the great not solely of the U.S. however of the world. Could God bless you and bless the U.S.”
WATCH:
This can be a lovely video! On the eve of the US Elections, a priest in #Iraq prays to the Lord to ship us not solely a powerful chief for the U.S. however one to assist persecuted Christians! @realDonaldTrump @JDVance @AlinaHabba @TuckerCarlson @DonaldJTrumpJr pic.twitter.com/WbyMFniCnf
— Iraqi Christian Basis (@iraqschristians) November 4, 2024
His phrases mirror the deep gratitude many Iraqi Christians really feel towards Trump, who, not like the Biden administration, acknowledged the struggles of Iraq’s Christian communities and took concrete actions to help them.
Fr. Benedict Kiely, writing for European Conservative, defined how, underneath the Trump administration, Iraq’s Christians acquired life-changing help in rebuilding communities devastated by ISIS.
He recollects a Mosul priest, whose church was reworked right into a torture middle by ISIS, fervently praying for Trump’s victory as he noticed in him a frontrunner who actually understood their plight.
Now, based on Fr. Kiely, the help for Iraq’s Christian inhabitants has dwindled, even because the Christian inhabitants in Nineveh faces new threats. Shia militias, backed by Iran, have gained management in Christian areas, casting an extended shadow over native governance and stoking fears of additional non secular persecution.
The European Conservative reported:
For the Christians in Iraq and Syria, there was one man they hoped would win: Donald Trump. I nonetheless bear in mind a priest from Mosul in one of many camps. ISIS had used his Church as a torture centre: he repeated 3 times to me, “I really like Drump.” They felt deserted by the Obama administration, and believed that Trump would assist them. Each time we requested who they prayed could be the following president, the reply was the identical, and it was by no means Obama.
When their prayers had been answered, the Trump administration instantly started helping with assist and the reconstruction of Nineveh, because the caliphate was defeated. I visited the area many instances throughout each the Obama and Trump administrations, and I used to be capable of see what American assist meant for the much-reduced variety of Christians who returned house. Whereas removed from straightforward, the help made a major distinction, even because the Christian neighborhood in Nineveh suffered the brand new menace of the growing management exercised by the Shia militias, or In style Mobilization Items, managed by Iran.
Quick ahead to January 2020 and nearly the primary choice of the brand new Biden/Harris administration was to chop off all help for persecuted Christians, not solely in Iraq, however throughout the globe, together with Nigeria, the place Christians are being slaughtered at a genocidal fee. LGBTQ and different progressive points grew to become the dominant focus in handing out assist. Christians weren’t simply pushed to the underside of the pile; they weren’t acknowledged in any respect.
I’ve returned to Iraq many instances since Biden’s election, and I’ve seen the state of affairs for the Christians of Nineveh proceed to deteriorate. An ISIS offshoot group is starting to strengthen. Lack of assist is forcing increasingly individuals to to migrate, thus not solely worsening the migration disaster, however persevering with to empty the cradle of Christianity of its historical individuals. The instability throughout the Center East, particularly since October seventh, is making life for Christians, all the time the minority with little affect, extra precarious.
