Aid to the Church in Need: Iraq: Always look on the bright side

Iraq: Always look on the bright side

Posted by Press release on 6/2/2009, 7:25 am
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ACN News, Friday, 6th February 2009 – IRAQ

Always look on the bright side

Bishop remains positive despite Christians’ reduced role in elections

By John Pontifex

A LEADING Iraqi bishop has described the country’s provincial elections as “a step forward” for beleaguered Christians – despite a number of recent setbacks.
Stressing how the vote on Saturday (31st January) was largely trouble-free, Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk said the elections – the biggest test for the new state of Iraq post Saddam – was an important landmark in the emergence of a democratic system.
Speaking from Iraq in an interview with the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, Archbishop Sako said the priority for the new provincial governments should not only be security but social cohesion and the development of health care and education.
With reports of Sunnis taking part in the vote – unlike in the 2005 provincial elections – Archbishop Sako said that Iraqi citizens would now at last “take full responsibility” for the development of their country.
But he said that when the results come through – expected in a few days’ time – it would be difficult for Christians to make their voice heard in government and in the wider political debate.
He underlined the divisions between the Christian politicians which he said weakened their position.
The archbishop also stressed that with only three seats – instead of the much hoped for 15 - the Christians ran the risk of being largely ignored.
But he remained hopeful: “These elections are positive – they are a definite step forward. This is a totally new experience for us.”
He went on: “Nothing is perfect – we Christians may have only a few seats but it is just a beginning. There are many changes needed.”
Back in November, the Iraqi Parliament finally approved article 50 of the provincial election law, allocating six seats for religious minorities on provincial councils including three for Christians in Baghdad, Basra and Mosul.
It followed protests from Christian leaders still reeling from the attacks in Mosul in which 15 or more Christians died and up to 10,000 fled before returning a few weeks later.

(Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk)

In Archbishop Sako’s own province of Kirkuk, provincial elections are not expected until later this year.
The vote is highly controversial because of the conflicting Arab/Kurdish claims over the oil-rich region.
A referendum is due on whether Kirkuk should be under the direct authority of Baghdad or contained within the regional government of Kurdistan.
Archbishop Sako has tried to raise the Christians’ political profile in Kirkuk by establishing a ‘Council for Christians’ made up of 30 members, a plan backed almost a year ago by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
UN sources state that in Saturday’s elections, more than half the country’s 15 million eligible voters went to the polls.
Although provisional results are expected shortly, final results are not likely before the end of the month.

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in about 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information, please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web:[url=http://www.aidtochurch.org ]www.aidtochurch.org

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