Iraqi Bishop to US: Leave Peace in Your Place

BAGHDAD, Iraq, AUG. 20, 2010 (Zenit.org).- U.S. troops are leaving Iraq, but the auxiliary bishop of Baghdad wants them to leave peace in their place.

Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, in statements reported by Vatican Radio, spoke of a duty to "leave peace and security behind them."

Bishop Warduni noted the impossibility of living in a nation without a government. "Iraq has no government, no law. [...] There are no jobs, but bombs [...] and other manifestations of violence.
 
"Today we see the negative results of the war. As the mourned Pope John Paul II said and as Benedict XVI says, war destroys everything and brings no good."

The 67-year-old priest urged "all men of good will to cooperate with conscience, with that conscience that puts God at the center and not one's own affairs, one's own interests. We want, we request, we shout: peace and security!"

He said to achieve this, an education in democracy is needed -- an education that is "sown, not imposed."

"Those who speak of democracy should come to walk on the streets of Baghdad," the prelate said. He affirmed that personal interests need to be put aside in favor of the interests of Iraq.
 
"There must be good discussion, at a table, and help to form a stable government, a strong government," Bishop Warduni said. "And this government must put law into practice, because without law one cannot walk or live."
 
"I want to make a strong appeal to the whole world," he said, "so that it will help to put an end to wars."