(February 25, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI is asking the Iraqi government to increase
security around places of worship; a letter to the Iraqi prime minister was published
Wednesday after more Christians were killed in Mosul. A January 2 note from the Pope's
secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
was published Wednesday in L'Osservatore Romano. The letter affirms that the Pontiff
"prays with fervour for the end of the violence and appeals to the government to do
everything possible to increase security around places of worship in the whole country."
At the time the letter was written a church had been attacked on Christmas morning
30 miles north of Mosul, three Christians in Mosul were killed, and a Christian student
was kidnapped from her university. Cardinal Bertone stressed that the Pope asked him
to write the Iraqi prime minister "to transmit his sincere solidarity to you, Excellency,
and to all those who died or were wounded in the recent series of attacks on government
buildings and places of worship in Iraq, both Muslim as well as Christian." The letter
ends with the cardinal expressing his "appreciation for the numerous initiatives undertaken
in benefit of the whole Iraqi community," and assuring Al-Maliki of his "highest esteem."
The Pontiff, who at present is on spiritual exercises together with his collaborators
of the Roman Curia, "is close to those who are suffering the consequences of the violence,
with prayer and affection," it reported.