What? No Christians in Afghanistan?

Sounds like the Pope just waved a big ol’ middle finger at non-Christians in the region to me. Who knew God could be so hateful? Kinda explains why church attendance is trending downwards.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict, elevating 23 prelates from around the world to the elite rank of cardinal, made a pressing appeal on Saturday for an end to the war in Iraq and decried the plight of the country’s Christian minority.
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Speaking of Delly during the ceremony in St Peter’s Basilica, Benedict said Christians in Iraq were “feeling with their own flesh the dramatic consequences of an enduring conflict … ”

The Chaldeans are Iraq’s biggest Christian group and the Chaldean rite is one of the most ancient of the Catholic Church.

Many Iraqi Chaldeans have emigrated since the war started. The Vatican has expressed concern before that one of the countries with the oldest Christian traditions could be depleted of its faithful as many leave to escape the violence.

“Let us together reaffirm the solidarity of the whole Church with the Christians of that beloved land and invoke from the merciful God the coming of longed-for reconciliation and peace for all the peoples involved (in the conflict),” he said in his homily.