2010-11-16 15:32:46

US bishops urge Obama to protect Iraqi Christians


(November 16, 2010) Prompted by the rash of violent attacks on Iraqi Christians, the bishops of the United States are reminding President Barack Obama of the country's moral obligation "not to abandon those Iraqis who cannot defend themselves." Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, sent a letter last week to the U.S. president, in which he referred to the Oct. 31 attack on Baghdad's Syriac Catholic Cathedral, which left 58 dead and 75 wounded, as well as other violent outbreaks in the city. On Monday the letter gained the support of the entire US bishops' conference, who are meeting this week for their fall assembly. Cardinal George said that "seven years have passed and Christianity is still bleeding." "Where is the world conscience?" he asked. While Cardinal George commended the U.S. troops for their brave service, and expressed approval for the end of combat in Iraq, he said that the United States has failed to protect the Iraqi people and has a moral obligation to assist displaced and defenseless Iraqi's. "Having invaded Iraq," Cardinal George wrote, "our nation has a moral obligation not to abandon those Iraqis who cannot defend themselves."
Earlier on Friday a Rome hospital as accepted 26 injured survivors of the Oct. 31 massacre in Baghdad's Syriac Catholic Cathedral. The wounded including 16 women, three children and seven men were admitted to Gemelli Polyclinic. They were flown in from Baghdad together with 21 relatives. The Rome hospitalization was organized by the Italian foreign affairs ministry in collaboration with the polyclinic, following a special request from Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. The Holy Father on Friday expressed his gratitude to the Italian government for the gesture when foreign affairs minister Franco Frattini led a delegation of Italian ski instructors for an audience with him.








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