A flag of Lebanon flies near that of Israel. Not far away, a group from the Pakistani community of Rome shows banners and flags. This is an image, which could be seen last night in Piazza Santi Apostoli, for the "National rally against the flight and persecution of the Christians in the Middle East, for religious freedom in the world", promoted in Rome in response to a proposal put forward by the deputy director of Corriere della sera, Magdi Allam. In the square, Catholics, Christians of other religious confessions, Jews, Muslims, all shared the belief that "Religious freedom is the test to find out if the other rights are respected as well", actually "if there is no religious freedom, all the rest will collapse". On the stage, set up in the square, people from different religions gave their testimonies. A "thank you" for the event came from mgr. Shlemon Warduni, the Chaldean auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, who said to SIR over the phone: "On behalf of all the people who are persecuted for their faith, I say thank you. We ask you to raise the awareness of the political and religious worlds and all public opinion about the fate of the persecuted Christians and keep doing so in the future as well". (continued)
