Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon asking for help and protection from the United Nations.
The text, published online at Vatican Radio, thanked the Security Council for the resolution condemning the brutal repression by ISIS militants.
In it, the Chaldean patriarch said Iraqi Christians 'suffered a disproportionate share of hardship.â? He also referred to the persecution of these ancient communities as ethnic cleansing.
However, Patriarch Sako said a resolution was not enough. He called on the UN to pressure the Iraqi government to protect all minorities, as well as to speed up distribution of 'urgentâ? aid. He added that this process could up take more than a year, given the current situation.
His letter ends with a request to the UN to come up with ways to 'protect and preserve our heritage, looted and burned by the militants.â?
He published the letter alongside with a statement on behalf of all the Christian archbishops of Mosul of all denominations. In the statement, the prelates echoed the patriarch's call for greater protection from the government, and financial support.
But the statement from Christian leaders in Mosul also called for compensation of damaged properties like churches and monasteries. They also called on Iraqis and the world to pressure militants to stop destroying places of worship, some of which date back centuries.
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