Iraqi bishop: positive developments despite the violence and bloodshed

Bishop Rabban Al-Qas

Contents - Sep 2004 - Buy a copy now Editorial: 2004 Fighting Fund launched - Michael Gilchrist Morwell: Vatican decision backs parish priests who uphold Church teachings - Michael Gilchrist News: The Church Around the World Pulp Fiction: Religious illiteracy and 'The Da Vinci Code' - Fr Martin Tierney Books: Exposing 'The Da Vinci Code' fraud - James Hitchcock Iraqi bishop: positive developments despite the violence and bloodshed - Bishop Rabban Al-Qas Terrorist attacks on Iraqi Christians - Catholic World News Mass Attendance: Where have all the worshippers gone? - Fr Martin Durham Sydney Catholic Adult Education Centre courses prove popular - Peter Holmes Mission: Sydney seminary's evangelisation program revitalises parish - Bishop Julian Porteous Events: Carnivale Christi Melbourne to celebrate Graham Greene's centenary - Liam Houlihan Why not a little Latin in the liturgy? - Angus Sibley Adult education: Latin language course in Melbourne Letters: Thank you from East Timor (letter) - Fr Marcos de Oliviera SDB Letters: Mass translation? - Philip Holberton Letters: NRSV Bible - Mrs M.A. Ross Letters: Liturgy abuses - Peter Lynch Letters: 'King Arthur' an anti-Catholic movie - Fr Brian Harrison Letters: Permissiveness - Ena Makaus Letters: State Aid - George Caruana JP Letters: Maronite Church - L.L. Booth Letters: Support given - Barry O'Brien Letters: The Power of One - Carola Morgan Letters: AIDS in the Philippines - Christopher Rule Letters: Freedom to be Born pro-life march - George F. Simpson Letters: Moral relativism - Tim Coyle Books: The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, by Philip Jenkins - John Barich (reviewer) Books: The Decline and Fall of the Catholic Church in America, by David Carlin - Fr James Schall SJ (reviewer) Books: Interrupted Journeys: Young Refugees from Hitler's Reich, by Alan Gill - Michael Gilchrist (reviewer) Books: Catholic Family Catechism: 2004 Disciples Edition with 50 Questions and Answers - Fr Peter Murphy Books: More new titles from AD Books Reflection: Why the priesthood is absolutely necessary - Fr John O'Neill

Iraq can now lay the foundations for its reconstruction, according to Chaldean Bishop Rabban Al-Qas of Amadiyah. While on a visit to Italy in search of aid to help rebuild Iraq, the bishop pointed to the International School in his diocese as a sign of the country's resurgence.

It is the first English-speaking school to be opened after the fall of Saddam Hussein and is being built with a capacity for 500 students, including Christians and Muslims, Yazidis and Arabs, and designed to offer student housing to young people from the neighbouring villages.

The school is an attempt to encourage scientific education and to overcome the obstacles and controls of Saddam's former regime. The goal, says Bishop Al-Qas, is "to provide free education to all, placing our hopes in God's hands and those of people of good will."

In an interview with AsiaNews, the bishop said that "since 28 June our situation has changed. We have a new government under the auspices of the UN. I disagree with those who think the 'occupation is over'."

Western media

In his view, "what the Americans did was truly a liberation, the liberation of Iraq. And on this basis the new Iraq shall emerge.

"The Western press has been unjust toward Iraq. It has focused only on the dark side, on terrorism, killings, car bombs, the cruel images of decapitation.

"Some went as far as saying violence was justified because it was aimed at the occupiers. Unfortunately, ordinary people are the ones who paid a high price."

According to the Iraqi bishop, the foreign media has been "backward-looking, focusing on the negative side of the situation, never talking about the positive things the former Provisional Council did and the present interim government is doing. None showed that, despite the political upheaval, the uncertainties and lack of security, schools re- opened" and "the normal academic year ended as one would expect".

Bishop Al-Qas continued: "Under Saddam there was only poverty. Now the economy is slowly reviving thanks to what the Government and the Americans are doing. New building sites are opening, new construction is going on. All this is going on in spite of terrorist attacks. How many people paid in blood their commitment to rebuild Iraq? Italians, Japanese, French, Americans, Koreans.

"No one talks about power plants restarting, oil wells reopening, agricultural programs being launched, roads being rebuilt", not to mention the "150 daily newspapers in the country" and the fact that demonstrations were banned under Saddam.

"Western Europe and pacifists," he said, "have been blinded to what is going on in our country. In fact, "something new is sprouting here, a democracy, young, but real, and in need of help. Now there is no excuse not to help us. Before it could be argued that everything was under US control. Now there is a UN resolution and power is in the hands of the Iraqi Government."

Asked about the situation of the Church in the new Iraq, the bishop said: "We Christians want to live as full citizens in a secular Iraq. For this reason we are in favor of Iraq's new Constitution. The Shiites back us."

The "overwhelming majority of Shiites, including the grand mullahs of Iraq, do not want an Iranian-style government," he said. "Only one Shiite in four wants an ayatollah- dominated state, one governed by the clergy."

In the present context, the "Church must be forthright and unambiguous. She must be pro-active and judge things as they happen. As Christians, we are not second-class citizens; we are part and parcel of the nation. Today we must live as Iraqis, work with the Government, and work in freedom.

"Under Saddam there were laws that treated Christians unjustly. Yet we were silent, sorry for ourselves and our minority condition. For example, although children born to a Christian mother were automatically considered Muslim, we said nothing. When our schools were confiscated, we just put up with it and taught in churches. It is high time to call what is bad, bad, and what is good, good."

He concluded: "It is most urgent that we bear witness, not only in words, but also in deeds, by living our Christian identity and expressing our Christian values."

Zenit News Service

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 17 No 8 (September 2004), p. 8