Pope Benedict
A series of attacks on the Christian minority in Baghdad, Iraq, from Saturday 11 July to Sunday 12 July left four people dead and approximately 32 wounded. Several of the church bombings occurred as worshippers were leaving Mass, in an explicit attempt to harm Christian faithful. The worst of these was the explosion of a car bomb on Sunday afternoon in front of a Chaldean church in eastern Baghdad, which led to the four deaths as well as 21 of the weekend’s injuries.
Upon hearing of the recent violence, the Holy Father sent a Message of condolence signed by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State and dated 13 July to Cardinal Emmanuel iii Delly, Patriarch of Babylon for Chaldeans, Iraq. In it, he expresses “assurances of his prayers and spiritual closeness to the city’s Catholic and Orthodox community at this time”.
The Pope also “prays for a change of heart among the perpetrators of violence and he encourages all those in positions of authority to do everything in their power to promote the just and harmonious coexistence of all sectors of the Iraqi population”.
This series of attacks comes less than two weeks after the withdrawal of United States troops from Iraqi cities. While there has been an appreciable decrease in violence in the past months, assaults of this kind remain a daily reality, especially for those residing in Baghdad, Mossul and Kirkuk, the cities in which the majority of Christians is found. Sunday’s attacks, however, constitute what appears to have been one of the largest single coordinated assaults against Christians in Baghdad.
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