Iraq Christians in danger

Eight Christians have been killed in 10 days in Mosul (Iraq) and the leader of that Archdiocese said he fears the community is in such danger that it will disappear.

This Sunday Pope Benedict XVI spoke at the Angelus of the situation where Iraqi priests studying and working in Rome turned out with flags and banners with slogans including, "Liberty, Equality, Peace.”

“In the delicate political phase that Iraq is passing through I call upon the civil authorities that they do everything possible to restore security to the population and, especially to the most vulnerable religious minorities.  It is my wish that they do not give in to the temptation to allow the temporary and special interests prevail over the safety and the fundamental rights of every citizen,” said the Pope.  He called on the international community to do its best to give the Iraqis a future of reconciliation and justice.

He said it was with deep sadness that he heard of, “... the tragic news of the recent killings of some Christians in the city of Mosul.  I followed with much concern the other episodes of violence, perpetrated in the martyred land of Iraq, which have harmed defenceless persons of various religious affiliations,” he said from the window of his Apostolic Palace where he is on spiritual exercises. 

“In these days of intense recollection,” the pope said he has often prayed for all the victims of those attacks and wished to join spiritually in prayer for peace and the restoration of security promoted by the council of bishops at Nineveh.

A letter earlier this year from the Pope's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki recalled the visit of the prime minister to the Vatican in 2008.  It was a visit during which the common hope was expressed that, through dialogue and cooperation between the ethnic and religious groups of the country, including its minorities, the Republic of Iraq will be able to effect a moral and civil reconstruction, in full respect of the identity of those groups, in a spirit of reconciliation and in the pursuit of the common good.

He added that the Pope had asked for respect in Iraq for the right of freedom of worship and appealed for the protection of Christians and their churches.  The Prime Minister had assured him that the government was taking very seriously the situation of the Christian minority, which lived for centuries together with the Muslim majority, contributing to the economic, cultural and social well-being of the nation.

by Ann Marie Foley