"La Chiesa in Iraq", a text published in 2016 is back in the news
Published : 03/03/2021 12:40:49
Categories : News
The complete history of the Christian presence in Iraq is contained in the book "La Chiesa in Iraq. Storia, sviluppo e missione, dagli inizi ai nostri giorni" (pp. 256; Euro 16.00) by Fernando Filoni, Cardinal Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
Published in 2016 by Libreria Editrice Vaticana, it offers fundamental information on the birth, evolution and development of the Christian community in Mesopotamia - now Iraq - starting from the beginnings of the proclamation of the Gospel up to the present day.
The book, made possible also by the diplomatic service of its author - for five years Apostolic Nuncio in Jordan and Iraq (from 2001 to 2006) - is not, as he himself defines in the Introduction, "an idle cultural extravagance, but an approach that helps us to understand the reasons and the dramatic events of that region and to appreciate the life, the culture, the witness of faith and the reasons for the attachment of Christians to their own land but also the hatred of their enemies" (pg. 9).
"La Chiesa in Iraq" is, even today, a text of great relevance, created both to give a profound testimony of the faith that animates - and has animated - the Christian community (even in the recent persecutions) and to recall the courage of women and men, Christian and non-Christian, who 'with sacrifice and love, make their fears and worries less thoughtful' (pg. 11) by relying on hope. Faith and hope are part of the sentiments that animate the imminent apostolic journey to Iraq of Pope Francis who, with the motto taken from the Gospel of Matthew "Be ye all Brothers", hopes that peace and human brotherhood between men and women of every faith and culture may grow in the Middle East and throughout the world.
