Weep for victims, not for Saddam

Catholic Online www.catholic.org
Sydney, Australia

Sympathy should not be directed to former deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein for his hanging, but rather to the more than one million victims who died because of him, said a Catholic cardinal in Australia.

In a Jan. 14 commentary piece, "Weep for victims, not the dictator," that appeared in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph, Cardinal George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, wrote that the pre-sunrise Dec. 30 Baghdad execution of Saddam Hussein while "already receding into history . . . in death, as in life, he has provoked division."

Pray for his soul

Labelling him "in the front rank of evildoers" and "an unpleasant piece of work," the cardinal said, "I should pray for Saddam's soul, but cannot weep for him."

"I weep," he added, "rather for his many victims."

Pell pointed to specific allegations against Saddam, including: "one million people died in his war with Iran; he invaded Kuwait; systematically oppressed and killed the Kurds; murdered many of his own Iraqis and even enticed his sons-in-law home with false promises and had them executed within three days."

Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 -- Western Catholic Reporter