From the Church of England

The Church of England is calling on its members to pray, act and give to those suffering in Iraq under the actions of ISIS.

The Archbishop of York issued three prayers for Mosul and the third of these can be used for all those fleeing persecution across the country.

Churches are being encouraged to act by downloading a poster and to display it in homes, churches and noticeboards to display their support for all religious minorities fleeing persecution. 

The poster uses the Arabic letter, "N", which has been daubed on the homes of Christians (often called 'Nasrani' in Arabic) in Mosul to identify them as targets for persecution or execution. 

This symbol has been picked up around the world as a way in which the Church can identify with those from all religious and ethnic communities who are being targeted to championing freedom of religion and belief worldwide as a fundamental and internationally recognised human right.

The Archbishop of Canterbury issued a statement on the situation in Iraq. In the statement, the Archbishop said, "It is extremely important that aid efforts are supported and that those who have been displaced are able to find safety. I believe that, life France, the United Kingdom's doors should be open to refugees as they have been throughout history."

Churches and individuals are also being encouraged to write to their local MPs urging them to press the Government to increase Britain's humanitarian efforts for all those affected by the crisis and to ask for asylum to be granted to a fair number of those who will be unable to return to their homes.

Fianlly, donations can be made to the Anglican Diocese for Cyprus and the Gulf which is part of the Church network functioning alongside the Kurdish authorities in the absence of the normal international relief agencies. The immediate need is funds for food and further priority is to providing accommodation for those sleeping in schools or even in the streets.

Further resources including the 'We Are N' poster, the Archbishop of Canterbury's statement and the Archbishop of York's prayers are available from www.churchofengland.org/iraq