By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY, June 21 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Thursday said he was greatly concerned by the exodus of minority Christians from Iraq and other parts of the Middle East because of violence, insecurity and persecution.

"Today, tragically, Christians in this region are suffering both materially and spiritually," he told the head of the Assyrian Church of the East, an independent Christian Church with members in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran.

"Particularly in Iraq ... Christian families and communities are feeling increasing pressure from insecurity, aggression and a sense of abandonment," the Pope said.

"Many of them see no other possibility than to leave the country and seek a new future abroad. These difficulties are a source of great concern to me ...," he said.

A number of Christian clergy have been killed in Iraq. Earlier this month Islamic militants inspired by al-Qaeda murdered a Catholic priest and three assistants in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Another Catholic priest was kidnapped and held for two weeks in Iraq. The Christian college and seminary in Baghdad have been closed for months due to threats and violence. Human rights and Church groups have warned that violence and insecurity are driving minority Christians out of Iraq and other parts of the Middle East.

"There is a continuing pressure to close Christians in the Middle East in a kind of ghetto," said Father Bernardo Cervelera, editor of the Catholic news agency AsiaNews

"In many areas there is war and insecurity and this leads to a desire to leave. In some parts of Iraq, Christians are forced by Islamic fundamentalists to convert or to abandon the country, leaving all their possessions behind," Cervelera said.

The United Nations said in a report this year that of the 1.5 million Assyrian Christians living in Iraq before 2003, half had fled the country and many of the rest were moving to "safe areas" in the north of Iraq.

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