"Without Christians, Iraq is a poorer country. It would be a disaster for cohabitation, for tolerance, and not only for Iraq but for all the Middle East". This was powerfully repeated by the Chaldean archbishop of Kirkuk, mgr. Louis Sako, as he spoke today on the final day of the national meeting the of diocesan delegates for ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue, promoted by the Italian Bishops Conference. The archbishop spoke of the situation in which the Christian communities currently are, "one half of whom have by now fled abroad or undergo abuse, rape, murder and abductions, under false religious pretexts. Iraq is a country torn by terrorists, whose leaders are not Iraqis but come from foreign countries, the cultural class has been scattered away. Christians he added are taken as scapegoats, to be eradicated, to be kicked out, with a view to establishing an Islamic state. They are considered ‘dhimmi’, i.e. second-rate citizens", with all this implies in terms of rights and freedoms. (continued)
