Archbishop Kelly thanks Middle East' Christians

BY ED WEST
ARCHBISHOP PATRICK KELLY of Liverpool hosted a reception in Rome last Monday to show his support for the suffering Christians of the Middle East.
The reception, held in the Venerable English College, was attended by Middle Eastern bishops in Rome for the Synod on the Word of God and celebrated the solidarity between the Bishops of. England and Wales and their counterparts in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and the Holy Land.
Among those in attendance at the seminary event were the Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon, Emmanuel III Cardinal Deily, and Archbishop of Tehran Ramzi Garmou, as well as the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Fouad Twal, Archbishop Kelly was joined by the two auxiliary bishops of Birmingham, Bishop William Kenney and Bishop David McGough, who were also attending the Synod of the Word in the Life and the Mission of the Church, which finished last weekend. Also present were Mgr Nicholas Hudson and the staff of the English College.
Lamenting the decline of Christianity in its cradle, Archbishop Kelly said that "to keep us true to the Incarnation we need our sisters and brothers across the whole Middle East. This evening the rest of us thank God for you, the living stones, we rejoice to know you and promise to accompany you."
On Sunday the Pope called for an end to violence against Christians in Iraq and India, "where Christians are victims of intolerance and cruel violence, killed, threatened and forced to abandon their homes and wander about in search of refuge".
He called on world leaders to "spare no effort" so that "honest and loyal citizens can count on adequate protection".
Over 10,000 Christians have fled from Mosul, Iraq's second city, in the past month after 13 murders. Gunmen walked into at least one church demanding the faithful leave, and utilities bosses were ordered to warn their Christian employees to leave or be killed.
Among the victims were a father and son, and a 25-year-old handicapped shop owner. Thousands of Christian Assyrians, also called Chaldeans or Syriacs , are now displaced in the Nineveh Plains north-east of the city, a Christian stronghold in a country where half the pre-war population of 800,000 have fled the country.
Although Christians have been targeted by Islamist gangs since the US-led invasion in 2003, Mosul is also the scene of an ethnic dispute between Kurds and Arabs. Mosul has a slight Arab majority but is claimed by the Kurds, as are the Nineveh Plains, between Mosul and the Kurdish autonomous region. Many Iraqi Christians want autonomy for the Nineveh Plains, which is also home to other ancient minorities such as the Yazidis and Shabaks.
Iraqi and British Christians will hold a protest in London tomorrow, starting at Whitehall Court at 12 and finishing at Downing Street, where representatives from the British-Iraqi community will hand over a petition urging the Prime Minister to pressure the Iraqi government to provide greater protection to Christians.
The petition can be found at the 10 Downing Street website: petitions. number10.gov.uk/ChristiansofIraq.
Around 90 Iraqi Christians attended a service in Cardiff to pray for loved ones in Iraq and those who have died in the conflict.
The Mass, in the Holy Family Church in Fairwater in Cardiff, was celebrated by Archbishop Athanasius Toma Dawod, the head of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Britain. It included prayers for peace and for those killed in Mosul.
"We wanted to show what is happening in Iraq and how people are suffering," Archbishop Dawod said. "We wanted to show people that we are here and that we are alive and to raise our voices. And we want to show the Government in the UK that we need to get help for our people."
At the Mass the archbishop said that many Christians had left Mosul after being ordered to do so via loudspeaker.
He said: "Some Christians were forcefully evicted from their homes and their homes were blown up in front of their eyes. Some had their sons killed. They have succeeded in petrifying the innocent and peaceloving people, forcing them to flee."
Laith Khalaf, 59, the chairman of the Iraqi Christian Association in Wales, said: "We would like the Iraqi and British governments to come up with a solution for families."