In a meeting yesterday with Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Hoshyar Zebari, minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, “confirmed his government's commitment to promote religious freedom and, in particular, to defend Christian communities,” stated Joaquin Navarro-Valls, director of the Holy See Press Office.

"In the course of the conversations the situation in Iraq and the Middle East in general was examined,” said Navarro-Valls, and "the minister thanked His Holiness and his aides for the help they have always demonstrated toward Iraq.”

"In the discussions the painful scourge of terrorism was deplored once again, in the hopes for a speedy return to respecting for moral values which are the basis of all civilizations," he said.