Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

By Jere Skipper, Canon for Communications and Administration, Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe

Bishop Pierre Whalon welcomes the initiative of the French government to work with the Association d'Entraide aux Minorités d'Orient (AEMO) to bring relief to those Iraqi Christians wounded Sunday in the Syriac Catholic Church in Baghdad, Our Lady of Salvation Church. Eric Besson, Minister of Immigration, announced the initiative publicly. Fifty-eight people died in the attack.

The Office of the French Prime Minister yesterday informed Bishop Whalon, who is president of AEMO, that France will spare no effort to offer refuge and medical care to those victims who request it. This follows on Foreign Minister’s Bernard Kouchner’s promise of October 25 to empower AEMO to bring out of Iraq more Christians and members of other religious minorities who have been threatened with death because of their faith.

Since 2008, Episcopalians in Europe, Iraqi Chaldeans, and French Catholics have been working together to protect the lives of these persecuted Iraqis. To date, AEMO has facilitated the transfer of 1,240 Iraqis, bringing them safely out of Iraq and into France. The group includes not only Christians, but also Muslims and Mandeans whose lives were endangered.

On Oct. 31, gunmen linked to al Qaeda stormed the cathedral during Sunday Mass, taking over 120 Catholics hostage. After the Iraqi military raided the church to free the hostages, 58 people, including two priests, were killed.

ENDS