Archbishop Bashar Warda, of the Catholic Chaldean Church in Iraq, told MPs and peers yesterday that Christians "do not have much time left" in Iraq, and air strikes against Islamic State are "not enough" to defeat them.
Mr Warda also said "there is no other way now" than military action on the ground.
Hundreds of thousands of Christians live in Iraq, however Islamic State has displaced tens of thousands of them, forcing them to either convert, pay a fine or die.
He told MPs and peers: "We don't have much time left as Christians in this region.
"As a Catholic I find it hard to say, but I want military action, there is no other way now."
"I beg you to focus on the need for military action.
"What we are seeing is worse for the world than what happened in Afghanistan, with more and more young people going to fight with Daesh [Islamic State].
"Military action is needed - powerful force - to get them out of our villages."
Irbil's Archbishop is addressing the Church of England's General Synod today.
Canon Jon Alderton-Ford, a long-standing member of the Synod, told Premier's Inspirational Breakfast: "It is a very difficult situation. The problem you have with the Middle East is once you send troops in, how do you get them out again?
"We've had soldiers fighting in Afghanistan for over ten years and one has to ask the question: is Afghanistan any better now we're leaving than before we went?
"There are only so many soldiers that we've got, it's surely down to the countries themselves to get their act together and perhaps our line should be to help them.
A Syrian Anglican Christian, the Rev Nadim Nassar, disagreed with Archbishop Warda, telling MPs and peers that "bullets will not solve the problem" of Islamic State.