The National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) has conveyed its sorrow to church leaders in Iraq in the wake of the explosions which killed 17 people and injured more than 50 people.
Most of the victims were Christians who had been attending Church services. However, some passersby were also killed.
NCCA General Secretary, the Reverend John Henderson, called for prayers for all Iraqis who, in struggling to resume their lives after war and rebuild their country, were suffering and dying at the hands those who engage in terrorist activities.
“It is a tragic sign of the precarious situation in Iraq that people of any religious persuasion should be targeted as they worship,” he said.
“The Christian community in Australia, and I’m sure all Australians, expresses deep sorrow to the families of those killed in these blasts and to the wider Christian community in Iraq.
“We also acknowledge and endorse the call of the Chaldean Patriarch in Baghdad for all Christians to forgive those who caused the blasts and not to seek revenge.”
Mr Henderson said NCCA member Churches and their affiliated aid organisations would continue to provide assistance to the Iraqi people.
These church aid organisations have been supplying drugs and medical equipment to hospitals in Iraq since the war last year. They have also been implementing development programs in Iraq which include a supplementary food program for malnourished children, as well as provision of water and sanitation.
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For more information contact Rev John Henderson on 0419 224 935.
