Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

A car bomb exploded in the early morning on Aug. 2 outside the Holy Family Syrian Catholic church in the northern Iraq city of Kirkuk, leaving at least 20 people injured. Police later defused two car bombs—one in front of a Christian school and another in front of a Presbyterian church. Louis Sako, the Chaldean archbishop of Kirkuk, said that the blast set nearby cars on fire and damaged not only the church, but also about 30 surrounding homes. The archbishop visited the injured in the hospital. He said both Christians and Muslims were wounded in the attack. “We hope this is the last act of violence,” Archbishop Sako said. “Christians are sad and in shock” because such a sacred place and innocent people were targeted, he said, and “because Christians play no role in the political games” in Kirkuk—an oil-rich city rife with tensions between ethnic Arabs, Turkmen and Kurds.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Federal agents stage at MacArthur Park Monday, July 7, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The U.S. church will have to contend with “deportation on steroids“ as the Trump administration adds vast new capacity to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Kevin ClarkeJuly 21, 2025
Pope Leo XIV has extended his vacation at Castel Gandolfo by two days. How does he relax? And what have other popes done with their downtime?
Colleen DulleJuly 21, 2025
Pope Leo XIV marked the 56th anniversary of man’s arrival on the moon Sunday with a visit to the Vatican astronomical observatory in Castel Gandolfo and a call to astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
The Vatican City flag flies July 18, 2025, at Holy Family Church in Gaza City which was hit in an Israeli strike July 17. (OSV News photo/Khamis Al-Rifi, Reuters)
"I again call for an immediate end to the barbarity of the war and for a peaceful resolution of the conflict," Pope Leo said.