Serious damage to St George's Church Baghdad

Iraq bombing causes ‘terrible human damage’ to church The Baghdad suicide bombing of Iraq’s Justice Ministry inflicted serious damage on St George’s Church, with ‘many staff and church members unaccounted for’, Canon Andrew White has said. The 25 Oct blasts claimed at least 155 lives. ‘Destroyed fragments’ of those killed were ‘thrown through the windows of the church’, Canon White, Chaplain of St George’s said. The church compound, clinic, bookshop, schoolrooms and Mother’s Union building at the centre suffered serious damage. However, Canon White was thankful that the attack had not happened earlier when many would have been present in the church. He said it was ‘essential’ for St George’s to continue its spiritual and practical support for Iraqi people. ‘We must continue to engage with the senior religious figures … working with them to challenge the belief systems that lie behind this terrible slaughter,’ he added. Source: Church Times (30/10) http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/