Posted by ACN News on 30/4/2012, 5:01 pm
Board Administrator

ACN News: Monday, 30th April 2012 – IRAQ Initiative against constant terror in Kirkuk: “Let us build bridges for peace” Luis Sako, the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Kirkuk, in northern Iraq, has joined with fifty representatives of Sunni Islam, Arab tribal leaders and local government representatives in speaking out against violence and terror. On the Archbishop’s initiative, they signed a document entitled “Let us build bridges for peace”, which was released on the 26.4.2012. The signatories pledge to live together in peace in Kirkuk, which is an object of contention between Kurds and the central government in Baghdad. In a meeting with the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Archbishop Sako explained his most recent action to promote on-going dialogue by saying, “We Christians have a mission of peace and reconciliation that extends to all people, not just Christians.” Archbishop Sako (back middle of photo) visting a Church in his diocese of Kirkuk In this petroleum-rich city in northern Iraq, Kurds make up a slight majority of the population. A referendum on whether to transfer this city to the Autonomous Kurdistan region or leave it under the central government in Baghdad was originally slated for 2007, but has been continually postponed since then. Critics accuse the Kurds of trying to influence the referendum “demographically” by promoting the immigration of Kurds and the settlement of Arabs. The disputes have long since escalated into severe terrorist attacks. Just last Thursday, a car bomb was detonated in front of a police station, killing four police officers. The signatories of the dialogue paper unreservedly condemn all forms of physical and verbal violence: “Violence will not change or improve the situation; rather, it will drown our city in a sea of injustice, social disadvantages and underdevelopment.” Archbishop Sako enjoys great esteem with all the city’s feuding parties. His house is considered a neutral place for informal encounters, as the Chaldean Catholics are not considered a politically relevant factor in view of their small numbers. The Archbishop estimates their numbers at around 10,000 to 12,000 persons, 4% of Kirkuk’s population. 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. 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, Aid to the Church in Need’s Child’s Bible – God Speaks to his Children has been translated into 162 languages and 48 million copies have been distributed all over the world. While ACN gives full permission for the media to freely make use of the charity’s press releases, please acknowledge ACN as the source of stories when using the material. For more information or to make a donation to help the work of Aid to the Church in Need, 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. On Line donations can be made at www.aidtochurch.org