U.S. Bishop Condemns Attacks on Mosques, Iraqi bishop fears civil war

(Feb. 25, 2006) - A U.S. bishops' conference official lamented the "horrible attack" on the Al Askariya mosque of Samarra, in Iraq, one of the most sacred religious sites in Shiite Islam, and appealed for calm and peace. "We extend our prayers and condolences to the people of Iraq at this time of dismaying loss," said Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando, Florida, chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on International Policy, in a statement on Feb. 24.
A suspected al Qaeda bombing on Feb. 22 devastated the revered shrine, sparking Shia-Sunni violence that has killed over a hundred and left dozens of mosques damaged or in ruins across the country. Fear is high that sectarian violence could push Iraq into a devastating and bloody civil war.
Bishop Wenski said the US bishops have consistently condemned past attacks on Christian religious sites and communities, and were now condemning the heinous terrorist attack on the Golden Mosque. He said the US bishops were alarmed and deeply disturbed by retaliatory attacks on other mosques and the loss of life that followed the destruction of the Mosque. Deliberately targeting religious sites and communities was reprehensible and dangerous, and destroying religious sites was especially reprehensible as it sought to damage the core of peoples' culture, belief and community. Bishop Wenski said the US bishops were praying for the victims of the recent violence and their families, and also for calm and peace. Fears of Iraq slipping into civil war, following the bombing of the Askariya Mosque, was also expressed by a Catholic Chaldean bishop in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni of the Baghdad Patriarchate who spoke to the Italian Bishops’ news service, SIR, described the bombing as an attack against God, civilization and man and against all of Iraq. The risk of civil war must "not be underestimated," he added. According to Bishop Warduni, "the purpose is clear: to sow division and hatred and hinder the country's development." He said both Christian and Muslim religious leaders have appealed for reason and peace to triumph.