Aid to the Church in Need: Iraq: Benedict, please help us

Iraq: Benedict, please help us

Posted by Press release on 18/10/2005, 8:11 am
Message modified by board administrator 18/10/2005, 1:14 pm

ACN News, Monday, 17 October 2005
Iraq: Benedict, please help us
Bishops consider appeal to Pope as constitution crisis deepens
By John Pontifex
IRAQ’S bishops look set to beg the Pope to make one last plea for democracy as the early results of the country’s constitution sparked dismay among Christians.
With early indications following Saturday’s (15 October) referendum pointing to majority support for Iraq’s draft permanent constitution, the bishops remain fearful that the country is one step closer to becoming an Islamic state intolerant to non-Muslims.
Last month, the Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, Emmanuel III Delly, met the President and Prime Minister of Iraq to spell out the bishops’ opposition to key sections of the constitution, which they say “opens the door widely” to the possibility of new laws unjust towards non-Muslims.
In an exclusive interview with Aid to the Church in Need, the Rt Rev Andreas Abouna, auxiliary to Patriarch Delly, said Iraq’s leaders had ignored their concerns and that as a result the bishops were likely to call on the Pope to intervene on their behalf.
Speaking on Monday (17), Bishop Abouna said: “The bishops will probably have a meeting with the Pope and will ask him to call for democracy in Iraq.”
He said a papal intervention would step up the pressure after Benedict met Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari in August and requested that the draft constitution respect religious rights.
Bishop Abouna said: “We are looking for freedom – the government must listen – otherwise the country will be like a dictatorship.”
The bishop said the views reflected the widespread concerns of the faithful, many of whom, he said, were too afraid to take part in the referendum and who felt helpless.
“Many people felt the best they could do was to go to church the next day [Sunday] and pray for the success of the referendum. They felt that the only option available to them was to pray that God might inspire the politicians to work for the people.”
He said the future hinged on how the constitution was put into practice by the new government, due to come into office early in the New Year.
In a sign of the deepening crisis, 12 or more Christian political parties have drawn a line under past disagreements and caved into pressure from clergy to form a coalition to give the faithful more voice in the country’s political assemblies.
As a result, Bishop Abouna said he was clinging to the hope of an eleventh hour amendment to the constitution.
He said: “I am still hopeful that there will be a change to the constitution. What we have at present is a basic document, which has not been finalised.”
At issue is a fundamental contradiction, which the bishops say lies at the heart of the constitution.
Articles 2.1(b) and 2.2 defend freedom and religious rights but Article 2.1(a), according to some translations, states: “No law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam”.
Bishops – both Catholic and Protestant – voiced their objections to article 2.1(a) and at the request of Bishop Abouna, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster appealed to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw for a last minute intervention but to no avail.
Mr Straw replied that the bishops were misinterpreting the constitution and that in its present form the document guaranteed minority religious rights.
Photo: Rt Rev Andreas Abouna, Auxiliary to the Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans
For more information about Aid to the Church in Need, please contact the Sydney 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: www.aidtochurch.org

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