By SIR
“Our community is terrorized. The wave of attacks is ever stronger. Ten days ago, the massacre in our cathedral. Today, our houses were bombed. Families are mourning. Everyone wants to flee. It’s terrible”. This is the reaction of the Syrian Catholic Archbishop of Baghdad, Mgr. Atanase Matti Shaba Matoka, interviewed by Fides Agency, to this morning’s attacks on the homes of numerous Christian faithful in different areas of Bagdad. 10 bombs and mortar shells were detonated between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m., targeting Christian homes across Bagdad. An interior ministry source reported that at least three people lost their lives and 26 more were wounded. The same source also recalled that three Christian homes in the suburb of Mansour were bombed last night, with no victims.
“Despite the situation, the government does not intervene to stop this wave of violence that affects us”, declared the archbishop. “There are police patrols outside our churches, but today it is the homes of our faithful that are attacked. The bombs targeted families in the suburb of Dora, Chaldean Christian, Syrian Catholic, Assyrian, and from other religions. Terror knocks on our doors. They want us to flee Iraq, and they are having what they want. The country is torn by violence and terrorism. Christians are suffering more and more and want to leave the country. We have no more words”. “We call on the international community to take immediate action and ask the Pope and the universal Church to come to our aid. Today, we cannot but hope and pray in tears”.
“Our community is terrorized. The wave of attacks is ever stronger. Ten days ago, the massacre in our cathedral. Today, our houses were bombed. Families are mourning. Everyone wants to flee. It’s terrible”. This is the reaction of the Syrian Catholic Archbishop of Baghdad, Mgr. Atanase Matti Shaba Matoka, interviewed by Fides Agency, to this morning’s attacks on the homes of numerous Christian faithful in different areas of Bagdad. 10 bombs and mortar shells were detonated between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m., targeting Christian homes across Bagdad. An interior ministry source reported that at least three people lost their lives and 26 more were wounded. The same source also recalled that three Christian homes in the suburb of Mansour were bombed last night, with no victims.
“Despite the situation, the government does not intervene to stop this wave of violence that affects us”, declared the archbishop. “There are police patrols outside our churches, but today it is the homes of our faithful that are attacked. The bombs targeted families in the suburb of Dora, Chaldean Christian, Syrian Catholic, Assyrian, and from other religions. Terror knocks on our doors. They want us to flee Iraq, and they are having what they want. The country is torn by violence and terrorism. Christians are suffering more and more and want to leave the country. We have no more words”. “We call on the international community to take immediate action and ask the Pope and the universal Church to come to our aid. Today, we cannot but hope and pray in tears”.
