Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Baghdad (Agenzia Fides) - "We hope you openly express your rejection and your condemnation of violent religious extremism, because it distorts religion". This is the appeal that the Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Louis Raphael I, writes in the congratulatory message addressed to the Iraqi Muslims on the occasion of the Islamic holiday of Eid Al-Adha ("Feast of Sacrifice", which is celebrated in different countries from 4 to 7 October). In his message, sent to Fides Agency, the Primate of the Chaldean Church asks God to "protect" Muslims and "preserve our Country from all evil", adding various considerations of the tragic moment which Iraq is living.
"We Iraqi Christians - says the message - are a genuine and essential component in Iraq, we would like to stay with you as partners and work together as a team for the progress of our Country and the good of our people. ISIS has displaced us of our towns and even in Baghdad the pressures are exerted on us, but we tell you that we love you because Jesus Christ commanded us to love everyone. We believe that all Muslims do not approve the actions of ISIS".
The Patriarch recalled in the message the figure of Mohammed Al-Asali, the Muslim university professor of Mosul killed by jihadists for opposing the expulsion of Christians. In the appeal, Louis Raphael I also invites the Iraqi central government to "cooperate with that of the autonomous region of Kurdistan" to free Mosul, cities of the Nineveh Plain and other cities, so as to allow a half million Iraqi refugees the return to their homes as winter approaches. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 30/09/2014)
