It seems to me that Pope Benedict got it right yesterday in his Palm Sunday message when he called for an end to violence in our world and upheld the message of the Prince of Peace.
He was specific about Iraq and must be aware that during Holy Week the fifth anniversary of that misbegotten and disastrous war will be observed. He honoured Archbishop Rahho (above), the elderly Chaldean Catholic leader who was abducted by extremists in Baghdad and died in captivity. For the most part we hear about fighting and terrorist acts between Sunni and Shia Muslims but the Christian church in Iraq has suffered greatly during the past five years.
The bitter irony is that while Saddam Hussein was a horrible tyrant the Muslim factions got along during his reign of terror and Christians were allowed to assemble and worship. Since the invasion and occupation by Christian nations the Iraqi church has been under constant attack by extremist factions and many Christians have fled the country -- as many as half. Abductions of individuals and bombings of church buildings are commonplace. Is there hope for an end to religious violence? An article in the New York Times today interviews young people in Iraq who are increasingly disillusioned by clerics who advocate hatred and mayhem in the name of Allah. This is a hopeful sign.
We need to pray for the persecuted church in Iraq and elsewhere in the world.
He was specific about Iraq and must be aware that during Holy Week the fifth anniversary of that misbegotten and disastrous war will be observed. He honoured Archbishop Rahho (above), the elderly Chaldean Catholic leader who was abducted by extremists in Baghdad and died in captivity. For the most part we hear about fighting and terrorist acts between Sunni and Shia Muslims but the Christian church in Iraq has suffered greatly during the past five years.
The bitter irony is that while Saddam Hussein was a horrible tyrant the Muslim factions got along during his reign of terror and Christians were allowed to assemble and worship. Since the invasion and occupation by Christian nations the Iraqi church has been under constant attack by extremist factions and many Christians have fled the country -- as many as half. Abductions of individuals and bombings of church buildings are commonplace. Is there hope for an end to religious violence? An article in the New York Times today interviews young people in Iraq who are increasingly disillusioned by clerics who advocate hatred and mayhem in the name of Allah. This is a hopeful sign.
We need to pray for the persecuted church in Iraq and elsewhere in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment