Baghdad, May. 4, 2007 (CWNews.com) - In an urgent appeal to participants in an international conference on the future of Iraq, Chaldean Catholic bishops have pleaded for help in curbing violence and intimidation against Iraqi Christians, the AsiaNews service reports.
The Chaldean bishops, in a letter to the international leaders gathering this week in Sharm al Sheik, Egypt, decried the current violence in Iraq as "a folly of human reason." They asked for international help in restoring peace and order, making a special plea for "religious authorities to let their voices be heard" to prevent "the disastrous destruction of an ancient cultural and religious civilization."
"We particularly ask that the threats, kidnappings and forced emigration of our Christians people is stopped," the bishops continued, stressing that Christians have always composed an essential element of the Iraqi culture.
[The full text of the Chaldean bishops' message is available on the AsiaNews web site.]