Joseph Mahmoud

Shop owners Adnan Elia Jakmakji and Raghad al Tawil were gunned down last night. Their two children are wounded but survived. They were in their car when it was ambushed. Source tells AsiaNews that Christians are concerned ahead of Christmas.

A radio broadcasts a message of hope throughout the diocese, so even Muslims can understand the roots of the Christian faith. Young people have organized meetings for meditation and prayer. A group has set up a crib in a Bedouin tent. Summit in Washington between Obama and al-Maliki, a few days from complete withdrawal of U.S. troops.

The bishop and the Islamic religious leader attended the dinner organized by the Center for Human Rights in the city. Archbishop Sako gives an envelope with money to Muslim children, "an expression of support from fellow Christians." During Ramadan, many gestures of solidarity between Christians and Muslims. But still more attacks on churches and violence in the country.

Together with priests and lay people, the archbishop visits a local medical facility. The medical drugs he brought will be distributed among the city’s many hospitals. The director thanks the prelate for an initiative that will “strengthen trust in our Christian brothers”. The prelate publishes a letter for the sacred month of fasting and praying. “We join you in prayer to God,” he writes, “that he may give us peace and stability.”

A women's movement has organized an interfaith conference on the role and value of women. A poll reveals that 88% of women in the city have experienced some form of violence. A plan to ensure greater social and religious commitment. The archbishop of Kirkuk stresses the importance of women in Christian history: "equal value to the role of males and females."

Five young French men and women came to Kirkuk in order to show their closeness and solidarity to local Christian families and spend a day with them. Yesterday, they took part in a Mass celebrated by the local bishop, sang with the church choir and dined with local Catholics of the same age. It was a moment of great ecclesial communion for everyone.

More than 150 political and religious leaders take part in a conference organised by the archdiocese of Kirkuk and funded by the Association for Threatened Peopled in Erbil (Kurdistan). Mgr Sako urges religious leaders to promote a spirit of unity and mutual awareness among various religions.

A new Chaldean church is inaugurated in the village of Sikanayan, some 10 kilometres from Kirkuk. Representatives of different religious and ethnic groups took part in the ceremony. During the function, Archbishop Louis Sako encouraged Christians to stay in the country and bear witness to their faith with confidence and courage.

The initiative, launched by Archbishop Mgr. Sako, saw the participation of political and religious leaders and many faithful who packed the cathedral. Also present were the families of victims of attacks. The prelate speaks of the "value" of the meeting, at a time of "suffering." He adds, Christians work for reconciliation, but do not want ghettos or diasporas.

The archbishop of Kirkuk, Mgr Louis Sako, speaks at a conference organised by Aid to the Church in Need in Würzburg, Germany. Uprisings in Arab countries leave little room for optimism. “I hope things will evolve differently in Iraq,” the bishop says.

The US decision to pull out its last combat troops will not be met by a sigh of relief in Iraq. In fact, it might lead to the country’s permanent division into three entities, one Shia, one Sunni and one Kurdish. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan and Turkey are deeply involved in Iraq’s affairs, preventing the establishment of a strong government at a time when the United States appears no longer interested in the country’s fate. An Iraqi intellectual vents his frustrations.