Pope concern for Iraqi Christians after two terror attacks
Catholic News, Australia
Dec 9 2004
Pope John Paul II has expressed his concern for Christians in Iraq
after terrorists made fresh attacks on two Christian sites in the
northern city of Mosul.
Catholic News Service reports that after praying the Angelus with the
faithful gathered in St Peter´s Square yesterday, the Holy Father
conveyed his “spiritual closeness to the faithful, shaken by the
attack.”
An Armenian Catholic church and the Chaldean Catholic bishop´s
residence were destroyed on Tuesday in two separate bomb attacks in
Mosul.
The Pope prayed for the intercession of the Virgin Mary to help “the
beloved Iraqi people” experience “a time of reconciliation and
peace.”
In Mosul, an armed group of commandos stormed the Armenian Catholic
church at 2:30 p.m. Witnesses said the attackers ushered everyone out
of the church, then detonated two bombs, leaving the church in ruins.
About two hours later, another group of armed men attacked the
Chaldean bishop´s residence in another part of the city. The men
ordered people in the building out before setting off explosives,
which engulfed the residence in flames.
No one was killed or injured in the two attacks, according to news
reports.
Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel-Karim Delly of Baghdad lamented the fresh
violence and warned that local Christians were becoming “increasingly
worried that they will be targets of such acts of violence.”
“Christians are worried about this kind of violence happening over
and over again,” he said in a Dec. 7 interview with Asianews, an
Italian-based missionary news agency.
He said the “Iraqi government is impotent to prevent such acts.”
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