“The international community must take immediate and decisive action to tackle the problems which are threatening the continuing Christian presence in Iraq,” said Neville Kyrke-Smith, national director of Aid to the Church in Need (UK).

Are we in a war? Yes. But what would Christ have us do? The only way He has pointed out to us is the non-violent way. It is the road less travelled, but it is the only way, said Bishop Matthew Kukah.

Abductions in the state have become “a big business” though some kidnappings are for religious reasons, – Rev John Joseph Hayab.

Christians in Iraq, who numbered 1.5 million before 2003, have declined by 90 per cent within a generation.

The victims were Ethiopians migrants attempting to escape poverty in their home country by making their way via Libya to Europe.

“We state definitively that those who do not respect freedom of thought, conscience and religion must be held to account” – Chair of the Council for Justice and Peace of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Alan McGuckian.

“The Kurdish officials had assured us that they would not even look at the private [Catholic] schools, but they not only looked at them, they closed them.”

“It has become increasingly clear to us that respect for human life is sacrosanct and that it lies at the base of political life, dialogue and civil society.”

In many places in the Middle East multi-religious communities were the norm, but increasingly they are becoming mono-religious environments.

“Will there be an Islamic conquest of Europe?” asks Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna on Sunday.

To end hatred, self-destruction and fratricidal conflict is the main challenge for all involved in interfaith dialogue.

The crimes committed by ISIS include the rape of children, the killing by crucifixion of Christians and systematic violence against religious minorities.

"Our situation is hard, our future is gloomy, and people are tired. They are waiting for a solution whereby they can restore their dignity."

“So-called ISIS/Da’ish is committing genocide against Christians and Yazidis and other religious and ethnic minorities."

Christians in Quaryatay have been living in fear of IS since May this year, when Fr Jacques Mourad, the Syrian-Catholic priest responsible for Mar Elian convent, was kidnapped.

"If the West helps moderates in Syria in a direct way, it is helping ISIS in an indirect way.

Religious conflict has become marketable, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III of Antioch and All the East warns.