Martyrs in Baghdad

On 31 October 2010, members of al-Qaeda in Iraq ran into the Church of our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad taking the worshippers hostage.  Armed with assault rifles, hand grenades, and suicide vests, the attackers said their action was in retaliation for the “treatment of Muslim women in Egypt” where they claimed that Muslim women were being held captive in Coptic churches,  The terrorists called the Syro-Catholic/Chaldean church a “filthy den of polytheism” and styled themselves “lions of montheism.”  Christian and Muslim leaders have condemned the attack as barbaric.

During a rescue attempt by Iraqi forces, a severe gun battle erupted in which fifty-eight people were killed (including two priests and ten policemen) and 75 were wounded.  Five of the terrorists were captured.

On 9 November 2010, the church held it's first service after the attack.   There were no pews so everyone stood around the hundreds of candles which had been placed to form a large cross.  The service was led by Father Mukhlas Habash with bullet holes, bomb burns, and blood spatters still on the walls.

I believe that the walls should never be cleaned or repaired.  This is the blood of martyrs.