According to Warda, the Islamic State (ISIS) is determined to "annihilate" the Christian presence and all social and religious minorities that oppose its principles, despite the fact that the Christian community in Iraq dates back to the first century, long before the arrival of Islam.
"In Mosul for the first time in two thousand years the Eucharist is no longer celebrated," she said. "It is a very dark historical period" for the Chaldeans.
Warda, the former minister of Immigration and Refugees in the Iraqi Interim Government from 2004-2005, was speaking at a press conference organized in Madrid by the foundation "Aid to the Church in Need."