U.S. bishop condemns attacks on mosque in Iraq

Published: 2006-02-24

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The head of the U.S. bishops' Committee on International Policy condemned the bombing of a major Shiite mosque in Iraq and urged an end to retaliatory attacks that have caused at least 200 deaths. "Attacks on holy sites can only add to the insecurity, division and misery of the people of Iraq and risk further violence and destabilization," said Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla. "We are also alarmed and deeply disturbed by retaliatory attacks on other mosques and the loss of life that followed the attack on the Golden Mosque," said Bishop Wenski in a Feb. 24 statement released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington. Noting that the U.S. bishops have criticized attacks on Christian sites and communities in Iraq, the bishop said that "we now strongly condemn this heinous terrorist attack" on an important Muslim site. The Shiite Golden Mosque in Samarra, which is north of Baghdad, was bombed Feb. 22. Retaliatory attacks against many Sunni mosques and other violence have left at least 200 people dead in Baghdad alone, reported the British news agency Reuters. The violence caused the Iraqi government to impose a daytime driving curfew Feb. 24 in Baghdad and in three provinces where major violence erupted.

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