(November 5, 2010) A delegation of Iraqi bishops and Christian church leaders was
received by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Thursday to discuss security, solidarity,
and commitment in order to build a country of peace and prosperity. Vatican’s Fides
news agency said the bishops told the Prime Minister of their dismay and suffering
for the attack suffered by Baghdad’s Christian community on Sunday, reminding him
of a surge in threats, attacks and violence against Christian places and faithful
in recent months across the country. The delegation, which also included Cardinal
Emmanuel III Delly, the Chaldean patriarch of Baghdad, also expressed concern for
the future, telling of the precariousness and shock of the Christian faithful and
the widespread desire to leave the country. The prime minister who visited a number
of the injured faithful in the hospital in Baghdad on Wednesday, has promised that
the state will do everything to ensure their protection, stressing that Christian
presence in the country is important and valuable. Al Maliki is scheduled to visit
the Syrian Catholic Church of Our Lady of Deliverance in Baghdad on Saturday, to honour
the victims of Sunday’s attack there.