Solving Iraq’s problems in Iraq

“We must face and resolve Iraq’s problems on Iraqi soil. This is the only way to ensure a future for the Church in Iraq”, says Auxiliary bishop of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, Shlemon Warduni. “But first and foremost we need disarmament. Our biggest problem is the availability of weapons. This is a problem that the United Nations and International community has to tackle. The arms trade must come to an end because in Iraq, Christians are paying the price”.

On Thursday evening the Vatican community gathers in St Peter’s basilica to pray for the repose of the souls of those Iraqi Christians killed in recent attacks in Baghdad (October 31^st on Our Lady of Salvation Church), and Mosul. Presided over by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, prayers will also be said for the Iraqi Christian community, so they may find the strength and courage to remain in the land of their birth.

“People come to us and ask us should we leave and we, religious leaders, can no longer influence them to stay”, adds Bishop Warduni. “Since the attack on Our Lady of Salvation, Christians have been targeted in their own homes, with letter bombs, car bombs and leaflets threatening them with consequences if they do not leave. More Christians were killed in Mosul in the past weeks”.

Two brothers, Syrian Catholic, were working as blacksmiths in their workshop in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Monday when gunmen stormed their workplace. Both were shot dead, police said, as part of an apparent campaign against Iraq's small Christian community. That same evening, police found an elderly Christian woman strangled in her home in the city centre, while one week earlier, again in Mosul, a Christian man and his 6-year-old daughter were killed in a car bombing.

Bishop Warduni concludes: “The people ask us, can you guarantee our lives? Our children’s future? Can you guarantee us jobs? I answer there can be no guarantees unless there is peace and for peace to happen we need the support of the international community, the prayers of the Holy Father and the Universal Church, but most importantly we need to stay and resolve Iraqi problems on Iraqi soil!”. Listen to Bishop Warduni's full interview with Emer McCarthy: