IRAQ (ACN News): An Iraqi archbishop has spoken out about the fear that has gripped the Christian community following an attack on a church in the capital Baghdad on October 31.
Latin-Rite Archbishop Jean Slei-man of Baghdad told Aid to the Church in Need, the charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, that he feared Iraq’s Christians would lose hope after at least 52 people were killed during a terrorist attack on Our Lady of Salvation Syrian Catholic Cathedral.
“This latest terrorist operation will increase fear and help to destroy hope,” Archbishop Sleiman said.
“(The Christians) are deeply afraid. But they are trying to overcome this latest horrible experience.
“It needs faith and hope – they must abandon themselves to the hand of God.
“This is not possible for all of them, but it’s the only way to find inner peace and so to resist in a very hostile context.”
When asked by ACN what his prayer was at this time, he replied simply: “I pray for hope.”
Archbishop Sleiman said the Christian community was concerned there may be further attacks.
“Many officials said – and are still saying – that there may be further attacks, that we are in a very dangerous situation,” he said.
The archbishop stressed the important role Christians can play in the future of the country.
“It is important for Christians in Iraq to be sure that their presence here is not casual but necessary for the country. They are building peace just by their presence,” he said.
“Their solidarity is well known. They can bridge the gaps between communities. So they must be sure that hard times cannot continue forever.”
Archbishop Sleiman told ACN that the day-to-day experience of most Christians before the attacks differed according to the part of the country they lived in, but for many it had not been easy.
“Christians in Iraq are still experiencing contrasts: persecution and solidarity, pressure and freedom,” he said.
“It depends on the area where they live – while Dora and Mosul were, and are still, dangerous for them, the northern areas are freely open to them.”
Archbishop Sleiman said that in Baghdad prior to the bombing “fear of the future, and of violence, was real, deep and common (to all Christians)”.
Speaking on November 1, Iraq’s Deputy Interior Minister Major General Hussein Ali Kamal said 52 people were killed and 67 wounded in the attack on the cathedral on October 31.
Fr Wasim Sabieh and Fr Thaier Saad Abdal were killed during the incident.
A third priest, Fr Raphael Qatin, was wounded and died later in hospital.
The church was attacked by nine armed men who claimed to belong to the Islamic State of Iraq, a Sunni militant group closely allied with Al-Qaeda.
There was further unrest in Baghdad on November 2, when bombings and mortar strikes killed at least 64 people and wounded more than 200.
