Holy Father Appeals to "International Community" to Help Persecuted Minorities in Iraq

In a twitter message, Francis wrote: "I ask that the entire international community to protect all of the victims in Iraq." -- Pope Francis otherwise named Cardinal Fernando Filon as a special ambassador for Iraq.

Vatican City (kath.net/KNA) Pope Francis has called upon the international community to protect Christians, Jezidis, and Shi'ites persecuted by the Islamic State." "I ask the international community to protect all victims of violence in Iraq," it said in a report from the abbreviated news service Twitter on Saturday. On Friday, Pope Francis called for prayer for persecuted Christians in Iraq.


On the se day the previous nuncio to Iraq, Cardinal Fernando Filoni was named to a special diplomatic mission to Iraq. It is determined that Filoni will be dispatched in the coming days to the Kurdistan region in Northern Iraq where most of the Christians are located seeking help. Rome has also said that an emergency meeting of diplomats active in the Middle East which will foreseeable take place in September. Francis had appealed last Thursday on the international community to bring an end to the violence.