Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – As the killing of Christians continues to take place in Mossul, Iraq, a letter sent on January 2, 2010 from Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone to Prime Minister Nouri Kamil Mohammed al-Maliki has been published. Cardinal Bertone, on behalf of the Holy Father, expressed his sincere solidarity towards those who have died or been wounded “in the recent series of attacks on government buildings and places of worship in Iraq, both Muslim as well as Christian." Benedict XVI also assured of his fervent prayer for an end to the violence, calling on the Government to “to do everything possible to increase security around places of worship in the whole country."
The letter also recalls the Prime Minister's visit to the Vatican in 2008, in which "the common hope was expressed that, through dialogue and cooperation between the ethnic and religious groups of your 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." In that same circumstance, “His Holiness exhorted respect in Iraq for the right of freedom of worship and appealed for the protection of Christians and their churches.” The same concern was expressed by the Secretary of State, and the Prime Minister assured that the Government “was seriously examining the situation of the Christian minority which has lived for so many centuries together with the Muslim majority, contributing in a considerable way to the economic, cultural and social well-being of the nation.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 25/02/2010)
