Catholic bishops from Iraq are meeting this week to come up with a “rescue plan” amid growing fears that the ISIS Islamist attacks have put Christianity in danger of extinction from the country. The meeting of the Chaldean hierarchy, which starts today, comes after the military success of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) prompted yet another wave of displacement within a country which has already seen a dramatic decline in the Christian population over the past decade. Speaking to Catholic charity, Aid to the Church in Need, Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Saad Sirop of Baghdad said that up to 75 percent of Christians had left the capital over the past few years. He said that ISIS attacks elsewhere in the country – and the threat to Baghdad itself – meant yet more Christians were leaving. The bishop added that in the capital Mass attendance on Sunday was “much lower” than normal. Speaking after arriving in Erbil, in Kurdish northern Iraq, ahead of the start of the meeting, Bishop Sirop said: “What we need is a rescue plan and this is what we will be discussing at our next synod, which we hold every year.” He added: “Christians and others in Baghdad are leaving because they are afraid of what is going to happen. So many have left Iraq already. It is a very difficult moment for the Church in Baghdad.” The bishop said that the decline of Christian presence is not just restricted to Baghdad. The capture of Mosul two weeks ago prompted the last remaining Christians to flee a city which until 2003 was home to 35,000 Christians. Bishop Sirop said the crisis could only be solved by reconciliation between the Sunni and Shi‘a Muslims and he repeated calls for the international community to press for negotiation between the various Islamic leaders. He added that military action would be counter-productive. “Military intervention did not resolve anything in Syria, nor here in Iraq, so we should not think this will work this time,” he said. “We ask God to give us the wisdom to face these problems with courage. There is no doubt that we are passing through some difficult days.”