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The only safe haven for Iraqi Christians
is Kurdistan
27.10.2008
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Chaldean bishop: appeal for Mosul, emptied of
Christians
Urged by the
appeal of Benedict XVI, Rabban Al Qas, bishop of
Ammadiya and Erbil, asks prime minister al Maliki
and the American forces to accept responsibility for
the violence afflicting Christians, the result of an
intolerant fundamentalism that has never been
halted. A request to the Islamic world as well, that
it condemn what is taking place in Mosul. Tomorrow
in Erbil, a meeting of Chaldean bishops and of the
Vatican nuncio.
October
27, 2008
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region "Iraq",— The
situation in Mosul (in northern Iraq) remains
incendiary. In just a few weeks, there have been 14
deaths and more than 10,000 Christians have left.
The authorities are shuffling the responsibility to
each other,www.ekurd.net
while the carnage
worsens. Rabban Al Qas, bishop of Erbil, the Iraqi
Kurdistan's capital, has sent us this appeal, which
we gladly publish. Meanwhile, the bishop also says
that starting tomorrow, for three days, 12 Chaldean
bishops will meet in Erbil together with the Vatican
nuncio in Iraq to evaluate the situation. |
Rahho Funeral, Mosul, Iraq. photo: Asia News Italy |
Through the agency
AsiaNews, I wish to call upon all men of good will,
those who respect man, and all believers in God to
forcefully condemn the crimes that are being
perpetrated against the Christians in Iraq, and in
particular those taking place in Mosul in recent
days.
I have been encouraged by the appeal that the Holy
Father Benedict XVI issued yesterday at the Angelus.
The pope is the only one who is not forgetting us,
and his words demonstrate how close we are to his
heart.
His appeal yesterday also asked for a more decisive
commitment on the part of "civil and religious
authorities" to re-establish the rule of law and
coexistence.
What is taking place in Mosul today is precisely a
result of this immobility on the part of the state,
together with a distorted, fanatical, and
fundamentalist mentality.
This tragedy - which recalls the situation of the
Christians in the early centuries - began
immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein in
2003. Thousands of Christians and Muslim Kurds have
been driven out, killed, kidnapped, forced to leave
Mosul. Less than one quarter of the former Christian
population has remained.
Threats, sanctions, discrimination, blackmail,
Islamic propaganda in the schools, slogans on the
walls, have driven even the moderate Muslims to stop
defending their Christian brothers from intolerance.
Once they used to open their homes to the
Christians; now,www.ekurd.net
out of fear of
fanaticism and terrorism, they do not even dare show
that they are friends or acquaintances of
Christians.
What is taking place in these days is the result of
a long silence on the part of the Iraqi prime
minister and of the government of Baghdad, which has
been unable to stop the wave of violence against
Christians. What is taking place in these days is
their responsibility, without forgetting the
responsibilities of the American forces and
representatives of the United Nations. What is
taking place in Mosul is happening right in front of
their eyes: the terrorists are killing,www.ekurd.net
placing bombs in homes
and churches, driving out the Christians without the
slightest effort by the authorities of Mosul to
defend those whose only fault is that they are
disciples of Jesus Christ.
In the face of this sad and terrible picture, I
renew my appeal to Prime Minister al-Maliki, who has
said that "Al Qaeda is responsible for all of this."
Instead, it is up to him, as the authority, to
reestablish peace without shirking his
responsibility toward the Christians. The
constitution must recognize and ensure the rights of
all, including the Christians. Until now, the only
safe haven for Iraqi Christians has been the area of
Kurdistan.
My appeal is also addressed to the Muslim world,
that they may denounce what is taking place in Mosul,
and so that love and respect of the other may make
all men happier as they live in peace.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
asianews it
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