Card. Sako pained at Iraq’s Covid-19 hospital fire
The Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church blames the tragedy on corrupt authorities who misappropriate public funds, depriving people of adequate services.
By Robin Gomes
The head of the Chaldean Catholic Church has expressed deep grief for 82 people killed in a massive blaze that erupted Saturday night in a hospital for Covid-19 patients in Baghdad, Iraq. The fire also injured 110 others. The casualties included relatives tending to their patients.
“It was with great pain and sadness that we received the news, early morning, of a fire in Ibn Al-Khatib Hospital in Baghdad, which is designated for treating people with the Corona pandemic, and the death of more than eighty people and the wounding of many,” Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, the Patriarch of the Chaldean Church, wrote in a condolence message on Sunday.
Österreich: Auch einige Katholiken feiern am 2 Mai Ostern kathpress.at - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kathpress.at Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Suffering Iraqi families helped by pope s $350,000 gift
During his trip to Iraq, the pope left a donation with the local Church to help poor families Catholic News Service Updated: April 01, 2021 04:33 AM GMT
Trending
Pope Francis meets with members of the Vatican s Covid-19 Commission on March 26. (Photo: Vatican Media/AFP)
Before returning to Rome from Iraq on March 8, Pope Francis left US$350,000 to assist families still suffering the impact of conflict or in dire straits because of the economic crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic, said Cardinal Louis Sako, the Baghdad-based patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church.
The papal donation became public when Cardinal Sako published his letter thanking Pope Francis for his early March visit to the country, which, he said, touched the hearts of all Iraqis, Christian and Muslim.
Iraqis hope papal visit offered a roadmap to country s future cruxnow.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cruxnow.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Reckless decisions to invade and nation build in other countries leads to more harm than good.
Pope Francis just wrapped up a trip to Iraq this week for the first-ever papal visit to the country, a trip the Vatican has described as “an act of love for this land, for its people and for its Christians.” While there, Francis celebrated Mass in several cities and visited biblical locations like Nineveh and Ur. He also toured the remnants of Christian communities in one of the most ancient homes of the Christian faith.
This papal visit was meant to encourage Iraq’s few remaining Christians. It should also occasion solemn reflection in the United States, a country in which two in three people profess Christianity and also the country whose misguided foreign policy contributed to the near eradication of Christianity in Iraq.