Iraq

During the “cordial talks”, Benedict XVI and the American leader analysed the “worrying situation in Iraq”, but in a more general sense issues regarding the entire Middle East and the “critical conditions in which the Christian communities find themselves”. The two leaders “also examined contemporary moral and religious issues”, among them human rights and religious freedom

Opposition to the “Assyrian” ghetto to save Iraq’s persecuted Christians today finds a qualified representative: Fr. Saad Hanna Sirop, one of the first Chaldean priests to have been kidnapped in Baghdad, and for whose release Benedict XVI intervened. A victim of Iraq’s violent anti Christian persecution, he too views the idea of an ethnic-religious enclave as diametrically opposed to Iraq’s history and the purpose of evangelization. Moreover, Fr. Saad maintains that the project’s real aim is not protection of the Chaldean and Assyrian Christians, but to protect ambitious “personal and economic interests”.

On the eve of the meeting between the Pope and Bush, the Archbishop of Kirkuk analyses the risks of the project to assign Christians an autonomous region in the Plains of Niniveh, a solution already rejected by authoritative figures in the Vatican.

Chaldean clergyman, Father Hani, and one of the five boys accompanying him on a visit to a minor seminar in the capital are still being held but negotiations are underway to free them. Released prisoners are said to be in good conditions.

They are Fadi Isho and Philip Najim. Synod discusses the safety of Christian community and the controversial idea of an “ethnic enclave” for Iraqi Christians.

Father Hani was taken on his way to the capital’s minor seminar. Five boys were abducted with him. Christians are plunged into a state of gloom.

Politicized groups are pushing for the creation of an “Assyrian region” in the country’s north, on the border with Kurdistan. To this end, they are exploiting the anti-Christian persecution to confirm the urgency of carrying out their plan. A project being called for by those who know little of the situation in Iraq, it may be on the agenda for meetings between Bush and the Vatican.

This was the invitation of the Archbishop of Kirkuk, Msgr Sako, present yesterday at the funeral of the Chaldean priest and three sub-deacons, murdered two days ago in Mosul. Thousands gathered for the burial concelebrated by Patriarch Delly and the Leaders of the country’s Catholic community, who thanked the Pope for his expressions of solidarity. Fears rise that these deaths may be manipulated to hasten the creation of the “dangerous” autonomous Christian region in the Niniveh Plain.

Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly together with all of the Chaldean bishops condemn this barbarous murder of the priest and his three deacons, massacred yesterday in Mosul after Sunday Mass: “A horrible crime against God and humanity , may these martyrs find eternal rest”. This afternoon the funerals will be held in Karamles. New information comes to light surrounding the murders.

Benedict XVI expresses his sorrow and “heartfelt” condolences for the death of the Chaldean priest and three subdeacons. AsiaNews remembers a friend who died thinking until the end that peace was possible in his country. Fr Ragheed is a martyr for a free Iraq, witness to an unshakable faith, which bombs and threats could not weaken.

Fr Ragheed Ganni, 34, was hit by gunfire in front of the Church of the Holy Spirit. Three deacons, who served as his aides, were also killed.

It took place yesterday in Dora quarter; in a convent of the Chaldean sisters of the Sacred Heart. Local sources tell AsiaNews that Shiite groups are suspected, as they mimic the fierce Sunni campaign of persecution against Christians in the capital. Today the first session of the Chaldean Church Synod opens in al Qosh.