Fonte: SIR
“I ask all Iraqis to go to the polls and go there in the interest of Iraq”. Three days before the election in Iraq, it is card. Emmanuel III Delly, Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad, who, through SIR, makes an appeal to vote. “We are praying that everything will take place without any violence and orderly – the cardinal states – TWhatever is in our power, we will do it, in the interest of the country and its population”.
The violence that has affected the election campaign, the latest of which happened in Baquba yesterday, killing dozens of people, shows a torn country: “they are Iraqis against Iraqis, parties against parties, everyone fighting for one’s own interests. There is everyone in these parties, Shiites, Sunnis, Mandeans, Christians, people from lots of different faiths and confessions, and that is the problem. These are internecine fights that cause lots of victims”. Then, the Patriarch wanted to recall his very recent visit to Mosul: “I met the Christian population and even the civil leaders and the local chieftains who insisted to come to the diocese and talk to me. Everyone said they agreed on working and cooperating to restore security and tranquillity all over the city”. “On our part – concludes card. Delly – we pray for peace and reconciliation. Ahead of us, we have the Synod for the Middle East, an opportunity to work at the service not only of Iraq but of all the region”.
A similar appeal to go to the polls was also made by the Patriarchal Vicar of Baghdad, mgr. Shlemon Warduni, who said to Fides: “we urge all Christians to vote and elect nominees who will work in the interest of Iraq, so that human rights and religious freedom will reign again in the country. 5 seats are allocated to Christians in Parliament: hopefully they will be earned by people who are fit for this delicate task, that of representing the Christian communities, promoting our rights, running our hurt nation and contributing to the building of a new Iraq. Don’t let’s stop hoping in a new era, in a new time in which right, justice, stability, guaranteed human rights for everyone will triumph. We ask and work for peace and freedom of religion, not only for freedom of cult. The country needs peace and security to grow”.