Tweet
Zenit News Agency, Italy
Dec 9 2004
Papal Solidarity Offered for Iraqi Catholics After New Attacks
Church and Bishop's Palace in Mosul Are Destroyed
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 8, 2004 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II expressed his
closeness to Iraqi Catholics shaken by two new terrorist attacks which
destroyed an Armenian-Catholic church and the Chaldean bishop's palace
in Mosul.
"I express my spiritual closeness to the faithful, distressed by the
attack, and I implore the Lord, through the intercession of the Virgin
Mary, that the Iraqi people may at last know times of reconciliation
and peace," the Pope said today after praying the Angelus on the
solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
On Tuesday, attackers entered the Armenian Catholic church in the
Wihda neighborhood in the eastern part of the city, according to
AsiaNews. They forced out a security guard and two other people who
were there and then set off two bombs, according to eyewitnesses.
Around 4:30 p.m., a group of four or five armed men stormed the
Chaldean bishop's palace on the right bank of the Tigris River.
Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, 62, was away on pastoral duties. The
only person in the building was Father Raghid Aziz Kara. He told
AsiaNews that after the attackers ordered him to leave the premises,
they proceeded to lay and then detonate explosive devices. He heard
three explosions and saw the building engulfed in flames.
The nearby Church of the Purification, which Muslims also venerate
because of its famous statue of Our Lady, was untouched. Police were
investigating.
Archbishop Fernando Filoni, apostolic nuncio in Baghdad, told AsiaNews
that the attacks against the bishop's resident and the Armenian
Catholic church are "grave and cowardly acts against defenseless
Christian symbols and institutions."
The nuncio said that the Armenian church "was supposed to be
inaugurated on Christmas Day." The attack against it shows "how little
respect terrorists have for people and holy places," he said.
He said that the bishop's palace in Mosul had been receiving threats
for some time. "Today they became a reality," he noted.
In reference to U.S. action in Fallujah, Archbishop Filoni said that
terrorists promised "they would destroy a church for every mosque that
was attacked. But all these acts stem from an exasperated violence
that especially strikes those who are defenseless."
Dec 9 2004
Papal Solidarity Offered for Iraqi Catholics After New Attacks
Church and Bishop's Palace in Mosul Are Destroyed
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 8, 2004 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II expressed his
closeness to Iraqi Catholics shaken by two new terrorist attacks which
destroyed an Armenian-Catholic church and the Chaldean bishop's palace
in Mosul.
"I express my spiritual closeness to the faithful, distressed by the
attack, and I implore the Lord, through the intercession of the Virgin
Mary, that the Iraqi people may at last know times of reconciliation
and peace," the Pope said today after praying the Angelus on the
solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
On Tuesday, attackers entered the Armenian Catholic church in the
Wihda neighborhood in the eastern part of the city, according to
AsiaNews. They forced out a security guard and two other people who
were there and then set off two bombs, according to eyewitnesses.
Around 4:30 p.m., a group of four or five armed men stormed the
Chaldean bishop's palace on the right bank of the Tigris River.
Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, 62, was away on pastoral duties. The
only person in the building was Father Raghid Aziz Kara. He told
AsiaNews that after the attackers ordered him to leave the premises,
they proceeded to lay and then detonate explosive devices. He heard
three explosions and saw the building engulfed in flames.
The nearby Church of the Purification, which Muslims also venerate
because of its famous statue of Our Lady, was untouched. Police were
investigating.
Archbishop Fernando Filoni, apostolic nuncio in Baghdad, told AsiaNews
that the attacks against the bishop's resident and the Armenian
Catholic church are "grave and cowardly acts against defenseless
Christian symbols and institutions."
The nuncio said that the Armenian church "was supposed to be
inaugurated on Christmas Day." The attack against it shows "how little
respect terrorists have for people and holy places," he said.
He said that the bishop's palace in Mosul had been receiving threats
for some time. "Today they became a reality," he noted.
In reference to U.S. action in Fallujah, Archbishop Filoni said that
terrorists promised "they would destroy a church for every mosque that
was attacked. But all these acts stem from an exasperated violence
that especially strikes those who are defenseless."