Christian leaders appeal for religious freedom

VATICAN CITY — Iraq’s Christian patriarchs and bishops have appealed for full religious, social and political freedom for the Christian descendants of the prophet Abraham in Iraq’s new regime, the Vatican said April 30.

The Vatican issued the text of a joint statement made in Baghdad April 29 by the leaders of the Chaldean, Assyrian, Syrian, Armenian, Greek and Latin rite churches in Iraq where Muslims make up 90 percent of the 23 million population.

Iraq’s new constitution must recognize Christians’ “religious, cultural, social and political rights,” allow all citizens to take part in government, give Christians full citizenship and guarantee them full religious rights, the statement said. The leaders said they wanted specific guarantees of “the right to profess our faith according to our ancient traditions and our religious norms, the right to educate our children according to Christian principles and the right to organize freely, to build places of worship and, when necessary, other spaces for cultural and social activities.”