By Daniele Rocchi
Translated by Baghdadhope
By killing him they wanted to hit his
commitment in the fields of dialogue, tolerance and
reconciliation which are the values
Iraq needs. The tactic is to divide Iraqi
people. I myself studied in Chaldean schools where
most students were Muslim. Schools are open to all
in order to give a service to the country. There is
no distinction between Christians, Catholics, Sunni
or Shiit Muslims. Indeed, when there is the hour of
religious teaching Christian and Muslim students
have their own teachers. They are example of
coexistence that today the criminals want to
destroy. Father Adel paid with his life his
commitment. Fundamentalism does not want the good of
Iraq. This is not the democracy Iraqi people
dream of".
The Chaldean procurator to the Holy See,
Father Philip Najim, recalls the Syriac
Orthodox priest, Adel Youssef,
killed on the 5 of April in Baghdad. Father Adel,
the director of a school attended by Christian and
Muslim students, is the second Syriac Orthodox
priest killed in
Iraq. Father Paul Iskandar
of the church of Mar Ephrem in Mosul was kidnapped
on the 9 of October 2006 and found dead two days
later.
Father Najim, still Christians are the
targets of an endless violence….
"Christian churches have
never been united as they are now, and they are so
in the sign of their martyrs. Never have been
distinctions among Armenians, Syriac Orthodox,
Syriac Catholics, Chaldeans. The faithful of all
denominations attend the churches closer to their
houses, no matter whether Catholic or Orthodox.
There is a natural ecumenism proved by the high
number of mixed marriages. Religion has never been a
reason of division but of very strong unit. The
action of the fundamentalists aims to eradicate this
culture of tolerance. There are dark forces aiming
to the ethnic division of
Iraq, according to these forces there must be
not a single people, but Sunni, Shiit, Kurdish and
other areas with no space for Christians. Something
worrying also
Syria,
Iran and
Saudi Arabia that, as I read in the Arab
newspapers, in these days closed their borders to
prevent infiltration of terrorists and extremists in
their territory."
Why aiming to
the ethnic and religious division of Iraq?
"The issue of
Iraq is today clear: terrorists and
fundamentalists do not want unity because it would
also mean peace, stability and reconstruction. When
you live in chaos there is no time to build a future
for young people, to develop a policy looking for
the good of the people and its dignity creating
employment, services and infrastructure. Today
Iraq is detached from the international
community, its people are isolated. The strongest
response to sectarian and extremist violence is
unity and this is possible only if Iraqis can share
values such as reconciliation. "
In this context, what is the role of Iraqi
political institutions and of the coalition troops?
"The government can do
nothing because of its weakness, it can't guarantee
security and respect of human dignity. Every day
many persons are killed and the culprits and the
reasons of those killings will never be discovered.
This is what is happening for Mgr. Rahho,
the archbishop of Mosul. It can't be declared that
the kidnappers of Mgr. Rahho have been ensured to
justice and weeks after no one knows how far the
investigations progressed. The government must give
answers to the international community, the Iraqi
people and the Chaldean church, it is a question of
credibility.
What about
the coalition troops?
"United States and the
coalition troops show to have no strategy for the
future of this country and it is also why Iraqis are
emigrating. They can't see a plan for the future.
There is a lack of schools, roads, hospitals,
services, infrastructure and security. I wonder
where is the money of oil flowing into
Iraq, how are the revenues managed. Iraqi
people have the right to know. Here in
Italy I did not hear any candidate to the
elections talking about
Iraq."
Is there anything the Church could do
to make people not to forget Iraq?
"Christians are dying, Father
Adel and Mgr. Rahho are not the latest victims. A
few days ago in Baghdad some Christian children have
been killed. One idea could be to create a
delegation made of Iraqi Christians of various
denominations reinforced by the presence of
emigrants living in
Europe and in the USA to raise awareness
among the countries that have the destiny of our
Iraq in their hands. It is urgent to show the
international community what is happening in
Iraq every day against democracy and against
Man. "
