"In Iraq too, reconciliation is urgently needed," the pontiff said in an address to diplomats accredited to the Vatican City state. "At present, terrorist attacks, threats and violence continue, especially against the (Iraqi) Christian community, and the news which arrived yesterday confirms our concern," the pontiff said referring to the latest violence against Christians. Other attacks killed at least dozens of people since Sunday, January 6.
Mosul’s Chaldean archbishop, Farac Raho, said three churches and a monastery in his northern Iraqi hometown have been targeted by militants using car bombs and other explosive devices.
A monastery in western Mosul, a Catholic convent in the Jadida neighborhood, the Saint Paul Church in Mohandiseen and the Virgin Mary Church of Assyrian Christians in Shohadaa were among those attacked. The blasts smashed church windows and caused damage to nearby houses, witnesses said.
In the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a Roman Orthodox Church in the city’s eastern part was hit by a mortar attack while a monastery in the Zafaraniyah neighborhood in the south was reportedly also targeted. At least six people were wounded in the attacks against Christians, including two guards, Voices of Iraq news agency reported. Other reports spoke of four people injured.
NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATIONS
The attacks happened during the New Year’s celebrations according to the Gregorian calendar still used by the Eastern Orthodox Church. "Both our Muslim brothers and we had just celebrated Eid and Christmas at the same time this year and everything went well," recalled Raho in comments to local media.
"But the opposition have never really stopped pointing their weapons at us. Now they must stop attacking Iraq’s original people and aim their weapons against their true enemies. Iraq’s government must immediately act against violence directed towards us Christians," he said.
Christians comprise about three of Iraq’s population although many have left, fleeing religious persecution, church officials and rights groups say. It was not immediately group who was responsible for the latest attacks. Yet, the patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq and the world, Emmanuel III Delly, refused to blame one group in particular, saying "the message of Jesus Christ is ‘love one another’ and ‘love your enemies’, as if we have no enemies".
ASKING GOD’S FORGIVENESS
He said in remarks published by Adnkronos International (AKI) news agency that his church would "Ask God to pardon them, because they do not know what they are doing. My message for all Iraqis is an invitation for a sincere mutual pardon." Despite the attacks, at least some local Christians say they will continue to go to church.
A few hours after the attacks, one of the churches in central Baghdad reportedly held an Epiphany mass. "We have decided to continue to go to church, let them bomb us, we’ve had enough. It’s our country too. If they want to wipe us out, they’ll be able to do it anyway. I will die proud," one Christian, only identified as Daniel, was quoted as saying by the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA).
However not everyone takes risks. The largest church in the southern city of Basra was among those not holding church services this Christmas, after local believers expressed concerns about a possible attack.
CHURCH FACING DIFFCULTIES
The Mary Afram-Church operates amid difficult circumstances in Basra where the Christian population decreased from some 5,000 people in 2003, to about 500 now, as many fled the area. Among the latest Christians killed in Basra were Usama en Maisun Farid, who had been missing for several days, locals said.
Christian and other sources say Muslim militants are increasingly active in Basra, targeting not only Christians but also Islamic women who are seen as dressing "inappropriate" or not according to Islamic rules. Rights groups and locals said at least 40 Muslim women were murdered in recent months while the university in Basra has been forced to close for women.
Christians have warned that the recent withdrawal of British forces from the region will increase persecution of Christian believers. Attacks against others continued Monday, January 7, with reports that a double suicide bomb attack in a northern district of Baghdad has killed at least 14 people and wounded 20 others.
US BACKED GROUP
Officials said the head of a local United States-backed Sunni group fighting the al-Qaida terror network was among those killed in the attack. Some Sunni Muslims in Iraq have formed groups called "Awakening Councils" that have joined US-led coalition forces to fight al-Qaida, and to reduce violence. Two other bombings near universities in Baghdad killed at least four people, the Voice of America (VOA) network reported.
On Sunday, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a gathering of Iraqi soldiers and civilians celebrating Army Day in central Baghdad Sunday, killing at least 11 people and wounding 17 others. There are concerns that the death toll among American troops will soon reach 4,000.
A least 3,910 members of the US military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press news agency count. At least 3,178 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military’s numbers.
The British military has reported 174 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, one death each. Christian groups have stepped up efforts to bring Bibles to troops, which they clain are parts of their efforts to "spread Hope" among soldiers fighting in Iraq.
