Baghdad (Fides Service) - "The children need us. We must take care of them" says Sister Densy, superior of the Missionaries of Charity who run a Catholic Children's Home in Baghdad the Iraqi capital under attack by US led forces. Despite repeated calls by UN officials, diplomats and media personnel to leave the city, the Sisters, who have worked in Baghdad for ten years, have decided to stay.
The community consists of four Sisters, three Indian, one from Bangladesh. Although the Indian foreign Ministry arranged for the evacuation of its diplomatic personnel and about 50 other Indian citizens in Baghdad including the Sisters, the missionaries refused to leave their little charges.
The Children's Home was opened in 1991 after the Gulf War on land given by the Iraqi authorities. At present the Sisters care for 22 orphans many of whom suffer from physical or mental disabilities. "It is our duty to stay and care for them" Sister Densy says again. The Children's Home is about ten minutes away from the Nunciature where the nuns go for daily Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Besides caring for the children, the Sisters distribute food to the many poor people who come knocking on their door.
The Sisters have taken no special precautions since the war and allied bombing started; the Home has no shelter. "The Lord will protect us" Sister Densy says. In the past wives of Indian diplomats stationed in Baghdad often used to give a hand to the Sisters. One Indian diplomatic said he was not surprised at all by the nuns' courageous decision. "The devotion and tender loving care with which they treat the children is remarkable. For these children the Sisters are all they have in the world." PA (Fides Service 24/3/2003 EM lines 23 Words: 296)