By Baghdadhope*
The Meec (Middle East Council of Churches) meeting in Beirut issued a letter condemning the recent events that affected the Iraqi Christian community asking the government to "severely punish the culprits and to preserve the coexistence between the people." The letter also expressed concern that the violences are aimed at clearing the country of its Christian component, victim since 2004 and "important component the national fabric."
A similar letter was released by the Assyrian Church of the East the patriarch of which, Mar Dinkha IV, from the seat of the patriarchate in Chicago, openly accused the Iraqi government for having done nothing to defend its Christian citizens for the protection of whom is required the intervention of the international community and the United Nations. The text also call for an investigation into criminal acts that affected the community and for the respect of its constitutional rights.
To ask to the U.S. government through a letter to General James L. Jones, security national adviser, to pass with urgency to the Iraqi one the request for protection for Christians is also the U.S. Bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace that, in the words of Msgr. Howard J. Hubbard (Albany) is "seriously worried" by what recently occurred in Mosul.