Vatican: "Christians enjoyed security and relative freedom" under Saddam Regime

sabra

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon Jul-13-09 01:43 PM
Original message

Vatican: "Christians enjoyed security and relative freedom" under Saddam Regime

http://www.aina.org/news/20090713131843.htm

Vatican City (DPA) -- Pope Benedict XVI condemned the latest attacks against Christians in Iraq and urged the country's authorities to increase efforts to 'promote peace' between the various religious communities, the Vatican's newspaper reported Monday.

Benedict made the appeal in a message to the Catholic Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad, Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, the daily L'Osservatore Romano said.

...

The Vatican newspaper noted how under Saddam Hussein's regime which was toppled in a 2003 US-led invasion, 'Christians enjoyed security and relative freedom.'

It also noted that before the invasion some 800,000 Christians lived in the country, while according to 'various estimates' the number currently stands at around 500,000 with many having fled abroad.

Also on Sunday, an Iraqi Christian official, Aziz Rozko Hanna, director of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk's Department of Financial Control, was assassinated. Gunmen pulled him from his car and shot him dead while his daughter looked on.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Peacetrain

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon Jul-13-09 01:45 PM
Response to Original message

1. Actually that is true.. there were over a million Christians in Iraq

pre 2003..

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Eryemil

(958 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon Jul-13-09 03:41 PM
Response to Reply #1

9. The punishment for being homosexuality was just a few months of jail time too...

Now it's horrible, unspeakable torture and death.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

47of74

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon Jul-13-09 01:50 PM
Response to Original message

2. Republicans are probably going "LA LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU" to the Pope now

Republicans are probably going "LA LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU" to the Pope now. They love it when the Pope wags his finger at Democrats and talks down to them. I had more than one email from Republican members of my family that were chock full of gleefulness that the Pope did that when Nancy Pelosi when she went to Rome. But now it's the sound of crickets.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Edweird

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon Jul-13-09 01:56 PM
Response to Original message

3. Compared to the rest of the region, he was practically 'progessive'.

Yes, he did some bad things, so in the absolute sense he was a bad guy.
However, if you look at him along with the policies and practices of the rest of the region and judge him on a relative scale, he suddenly doesn't look so terrible.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Vidar

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon Jul-13-09 02:05 PM
Response to Original message

4. Unfortunately Biggie Ratz is right on this one.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

ProudToBeBlueInRhody

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon Jul-13-09 02:07 PM
Response to Original message

5. He kept radical fundamentalism out of Iraq.

A fact totally lost on the right-wing fuqtards in this nation.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

frogmarch

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon Jul-13-09 02:08 PM
Response to Original message

6. I recall reading somewhere years ago that

Saddam described himself as "not very religious."

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

surrealAmerican

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon Jul-13-09 03:06 PM
Response to Original message

7. Yes, it was a corrupt and brutal regime ...

... but it was a SECULAR corrupt and brutal regime.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

noiretextatique

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon Jul-13-09 03:23 PM
Response to Original message

8. another group to add to the list

which includes women and gays. bush, inc destroyed that country.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Blue For You

(466 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon Jul-13-09 03:56 PM
Response to Original message

10. It was a Christian invasion, with bogus intel. That can't be good

for spreading the "Jesus loves you" meme.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

JVS

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon Jul-13-09 03:57 PM
Response to Original message

11. This is true. Hussein was a secular ruler.

Edited on Mon Jul-13-09 03:58 PM by JVS

He did start making concessions to the religious after Gulf War I, when suddenly Allah's name appeared on the flag.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

GeorgeGist

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon Jul-13-09 04:26 PM
Response to Original message

12. A jew, a christian, and a muslim walk into a bar ...

that's all folks!

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

DU AdBot (1000+ posts)

Tue Apr 30th 2024, 03:31 AM
Response to Original message

Advertisements [?]

Top

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators

Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.