This first link details how vague the NYT was about what type of church was attacked, while listing a lot of other details. Several news stories are cited. http://www.getreligion.org/2010/11/massacre-in-a-generic-iraqi-church/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+getreligion%2FDmXm+%28GetReligion%29

The second link, again NYT, gives a lot of detail, but no mention that it was a cathedral that was attacked. http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/premonitions-of-danger-at-baghdad-church-held-hostage/?partner=rss&emc=rss

The South Africans get the name right,
http://www.newstime.co.za/WorldNews/37_Christians_killed_In_Baghdad_Cathedral_Hostage_Drama/14044/

as do the Filipinos.
http://www.newstime.co.za/WorldNews/37_Christians_killed_In_Baghdad_Cathedral_Hostage_Drama/14044/

As for the days of obligation, the chart is linked below. Yes, the attack was on Sunday the 31st, but Catholics follow the Jewish custom of beginning the day at sundown the day before. Thus we have All Hallows’ Eve (Halloween) the night before All Saints Day.
http://www.roman-catholic-catechism.com/catholic-holy-days-of-obligation.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Jews

There were between 80,000 and 100,000 Jews in Iraq who actually had full rights under the waning years of the Ottoman Empire. Then, the Brits “liberated” the place and things started going downhill starting in 1932 for Jews – from more than 60 synagogues to less than 60 Jews. I guess all this was because of Israel not returning to the “1967 boundaries”!!!

As a result of Dubya’s “liberation”, there are 2,000,000 exiles living in slums in Damascus and Amman. If their slum population triples by 2030 and 0.01% become violent terrorists, that is 600 suicide bombers / assassins / hijackers serving the call of any violent wacko cause.

And if Iraq isn’t sufficiently depressing, we have the Taliban funded by our Afghan contractors

http://news.firedoglake.com/2009/11/12/us-paying-taliban-not-to-disrupt-military-supply-lines/

and the “friendly” police clamoring to join:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/world/asia/02afghan.html

and it isn’t clear whether the Taliban will join Kurroptocrat Karzai or whether Karzai will just join the parade of defectors to the Taliban (which, by the way, NEVER ATTACKED AMERICA):

http://www.newsmild.com/karzai-announces-council-to-deal-with-taliban-reconciliation

Thank you, Dubya and successor Barack Hussein for bankrupting us in the name of giving “democracy” to the Islamic world.

August 2009.

Because there is a clear motif behind the threats to Christian individuals and facilities we
conclude that these are not random incidents but in essence a form of religious cleansing.
Kinds of oppression and persecution, which we have recorded and documented in Iraq:

1. Intimidation and threat letters that request families to leave a particular area, if they
want to spare their own lives.
2. Children are intimidated and tortured as a means of pressuring families into leaving
their family homes and businesses.
3. Kidnapping of male family members.
4. Kidnapping and raping of female family members, often as a means to intimidate
Christian families and to force the woman to marry Muslims and thus become
Muslims themselves.
5. Targeted killing of family members through the use of car-bombs, urging families to
leave the area.
6. Killing of church leaders as a means to instill fear in the Christian community as a
whole.
7. Pressure on families to convert to Islam.
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session7/IQ/ODI_UPR_IRQ_S07_2010_OpenDoorsInternational.pdf
We now see that the ‘religion of peace’ is now stepping up their efforts to bring harmony to Iraq. Remember though that the Pakistanis did the same to Jews in a Hotel in India last year, I think.