EWTN’s Naturalist Narrative on Iraqi Christians Omits Christ the King
EWTN News (February 1, 2026) reports on Iraqi Christians’ fears regarding potential ISIS resurgence near the Iraq-Syria border. The article quotes “Bishop” Bashar Matti Warda of Erbil emphasizing human dialogue and “shared life” as solutions while lamenting past Christian emigration. The report frames the conflict through geopolitical lenses without reference to the Catholic duty of nations to recognize the Social Kingship of Christ.
Reduction of Christian Survival to Earthly Peacebuilding
The article reduces the Church’s mission to naturalistic coexistence strategies, stating:
“the strongest response to violence is rooted in human dignity, shared life, and calm dialogue — rejecting incitement and building bridges.”
This contradicts Quas Primas (Pius XI, 1925), which teaches: “When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony.” The conciliar sect’s spokesperson substitutes secular conflict resolution for the Regnum Christi (Kingship of Christ), abandoning the Church’s mandate to demand public submission to divine law.
Omission of Apostolic Mandate for Conversions
“Bishop” Warda speaks of protecting Christians but avoids their supernatural mission to convert Muslims. The article states:
“violence has a way of expanding from one place to unsettle entire regions”
yet remains silent about Islam’s intrinsic violence against non-Muslims. This violates Canon 1350 §1 of the 1917 Code (“The Church has the innate and proper right to preach the Gospel to all nations”) and Pius IX’s condemnation of religious indifferentism in the Syllabus of Errors (1864): “Man may, in the observance of any religion whatever, find the way of eternal salvation” (Error #16). The conciliar narrative treats ISIS as an isolated extremist group rather than a logical outcome of Islamic theology.
False Equivalence Between Victims and Aggressors
The report claims
“both Syrian and Iraqi families aspire to live in peace”
– a dangerous equivocation placing persecuted Christians and their persecutors on equal moral footing. This echoes the conciliar sect’s false ecumenism condemned in Mortalium Animos (Pius XI, 1928): “The union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it.” Nowhere does EWTN’s piece mention the need for Muslim repentance or conversion to Catholicism as prerequisites for true peace.
Theological Vacuum in Crisis Reporting
By framing Christian persecution through purely geopolitical lenses, EWTN commits the naturalist error denounced in Lamentabili Sane (1907): “Revelation was merely man’s self-awareness of his relationship to God” (Error #20). The article discusses transferred ISIS prisoners without addressing how secular governments’ refusal to recognize Christ’s kingship enables terrorism. As Quas Primas teaches: “Nations will be reminded by the annual celebration of this feast that not only private individuals but also rulers and princes are bound to give public honor and obedience to Christ.”
Trafficking in Emotionalism Without Doctrine
The report weaponizes sentimentalism about displaced Christians while suppressing the doctrinal causes of their persecution:
“Two-thirds of Iraq’s Christians once left not by choice but out of a profound feeling that their homeland could no longer protect them.”
This reduces the Church’s martyrial vocation to a psychologized victim narrative, ignoring St. Augustine’s teaching that Christians are “pilgrims in earthly cities seeking the Heavenly Jerusalem” (De Civitate Dei). True Catholic journalism would highlight how Iraqi Christians’ suffering participates in Christ’s Passion, not merely lobby for better “security.”
Conclusion: The Conciliar Sect’s Abdication of Spiritual Warfare
EWTN’s report exemplifies the conciliar betrayal of Matthew 10:34 (“I came not to send peace, but a sword”). By replacing the Militia Christi with NGO-style peacebuilding, the conciliar sect abandons Iraqi Christians to existential fear while denying them the weapons of supernatural faith: public profession of Christ’s kingship, condemnation of false religions, and militant missionary zeal. As Pope Pius XI warned in Quas Primas: “The rebellion of individuals and states against the authority of Christ has produced deplorable consequences.” The Islamic State’s resurgence proves that societies rejecting Christ the King inevitably become kingdoms of the antichrist.
Source:
Christian communities in Iraq fear resurgence of ISIS-linked violence (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 01.02.2026