Christian
bloodbath
in
the Cathedral of our Lady of Deliverance
Baghdad
The carnage which took place on Sunday, November 1,
2010 in the Syrian Catholic Cathedral of our Lady of Deliverance in Baghdad was
of an unprecedented cruelty and barbarity. It was an attack capable of
undermining the good will of genuine bridge-builders between cultures, brave
heroes of inter-religious dialogue, as well as the optimism of the Special
Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East.
I offer my sincere condolences and the assurance of my
prayers and those of our Church to His Beatitude Patriarch Ignace-Joseph
III (Younan), to His Eminence Cardinal Emmanuel III (Delly) and
to all those who are broken-hearted at this crime.
We know that this criminal act is not the work of
authentic Islam, and cannot be based on it. Despite that, we hold Muslims in
Iraq and in all Arab countries to be responsible for Christian security, since
they have power, and control the army and police force.
We urge Arab countries to study the reality of
fundamentalist terrorism and the trends that feed on it. This is a global
Islamic responsibility, because showing Islam under that guise is a
disfigurement of authentic Islam. The real enemies of Islam and Muslims are
neither “Islamophobia” nor “Christian Europe,” but rather these fundamentalist
organisations and trends.
They are also the enemies of Christianity and of every
Christian and Muslim social and human value, whether Arab or not.
Christians are peaceable, patriotic, loyal, faithful
to their homeland and countries, tolerant and naturally inclined to forgiveness.
But they are not passive, cowardly, timid, any more than they are inclined to
be humiliated. They are not sheep, designed to be slaughtered by
fundamentalists. Christians are builders of values, nations and cultures,
including Islamic culture itself.
If Muslims do nothing to safeguard this creative
strain represented by Arab Christians in Iraq and throughout the Middle East, the
prosperity and drive of Islamic culture will be in danger of collapse, and
Muslims will then be their own worst enemies, enemies of their faith and of
their countries.
Dear Muslim and Christian Arab brothers, let us adopt
a unifying way of talking and act together to build a better future for all our
children and compatriots!
Gregorios III
Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
of
Alexandria and of Jerusalem