ANKAWA, Iraq - The ordination of three deacons is a sign of hope in Iraq, says the bishop of Kirkuk. Kirkuk's Chaldean Archbishop Luis Sako was present at Friday's ordinations in Ankawa.According to AsiaNews, the ceremony took place in the Church of St. Joseph and was celebrated by Bishop Rabban Al-Qas, of Amadiyah and Erbil. Bishop Mikha Pola Maqdassi, of Alquoch, was also present.
The ordained deacons are Salar Soulayman Bodagh of the Diocese of Alquoch, Raymond Hamid Sargis of Baghdad, and Louya' Gilyana Dinkha of Mosul. Friday's ceremony follows the Jan. 27 ordination of Wassim Sabih Youssif in Baghdad. As well, four Syro-Catholic deacons will be ordained later this month. Archbishop Sako told AsiaNews that the ordinations are "real signs of hope amid so much violence."
However, he also mentioned the latest threat to the Christian community: another kidnapping.
"A Catholic from Karaqosh, Abdul Khaliq Bakos, the brother of a Dominican nun, was kidnapped a few days ago in Baghdad; an hour after the kidnapping, his relatives paid the ransom demanded only to find him dead two days later," the archbishop explained. The slain man had three children. The archbishop continued: "In Kirkuk, some Christian doctors left the city after receiving a letter asking for an enormous sum of money to be delivered on pain of death."
Archbishop Sako told AsiaNews that the insecurity threatening the daily life of all Iraq's communities has left "a real vacuum at pastoral level."
Yet, he mentioned that evangelical groups that arrived with the U.S. Army are multiplying.
"They are conducting aggressive proselytism even among Catholics and Orthodox," the archbishop said, "and they already have 36 new churches in Baghdad alone."
NB: Flag as shown above is that which will replace current Iraqi flag
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