Pope Francis hopes that Iraq will be confirmed  “in the path of peace through dialogue and fraternal solidarity,” and he expressed his closeness to Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, and to the wounded in the recent attack on the Prime Minister’s home.

In a telegram signed by the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy Father expresses ”his closeness in prayer to you and your family, as well as to the wounded.” On condemning “this vile terrorist act,” His Holiness “expresses once again his confidence that, with the blessing of God Most High, the Iraqi people will be confirmed in wisdom and strength to follow the path of peace through dialogue and fraternal solidarity,” concludes the text.

According to the Chaldean Patriarch, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, in statements to “Asia News,” it was a drone attack to “impede” the advance of a project of a strong Iraq, of a State “, based on law, citizenship, order, and justice.” “We still don’t know who is behind this episode,” said the Patriarch, “but it’s clear that the objective to destabilize, to create confusion, and to interrupt the work initiated by the Prime Minister (PM), who wants to build an Iraq project that doesn’t see the country isolated” internationally.

The Cardinal prayed for the Prime Minister’s health and that of the whole country and said that many believe that the work of the PM in regard to reforms is authentic and beneficial for the nation. “Up to now he never wanted to use arms to resolve problems, instead, he asks for and proposes as principles dialogue and encounter, including with his enemies and political adversaries.”

According to the same source, for the Chaldean Patriarch, the attack is linked to the post-electoral process and to the transition period until the swearing-in of the new Parliament and the appointment of the future President of the Republic, of the Legislative Assembly, and of the Head of Government, who could be Kadhimi. “I ask all Christians of Iraq, to pray for the good of the country, to wait with calm and confidence, not to be carried away by the tensions of the opponents, but that they continue to be a source of balance,” concluded the Cardinal.

Translation by Virginia M. Forrester