Church Carnage Raises Fears About Christians' Safety in Arab World (Christians‪)‬

Last month's terror attack on a Catholic church in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, in which at least 58 people were killed and dozens more wounded, has sent shock waves throughout the world, raising fears about the safety of Christian minorities in the Muslim-dominated Arab world. The attack, claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq, an al Qaeda-affiliated group, on the Our Lady of Salvation Church during Sunday mass on October 31, is bound to spark a new wave of emigration among Christians in Iraq, which has been torn by sectarian violence since the U.S.- led invasion in 2003. Although the emigration of Christians from Arab countries is not new, the phenomenon has greatly surged in recent years, particularly in Iraq, mainly as a result of economic hardships, marginalization of the Christians' political role and threats to their lives posed by militant groups as manifested by the attack on the Baghdad church.