The shock wave is terrible and the call for help, poignant. Hardly a week after the bombing of the Catholic cathedral in Baghdad, five Iraqi archbishops sent a message pleading for compassion of their “brothers in France.” It was read in every parish in the country on Sunday. There is not a Catholic church in the world that is not mobilized by prayer and solidarity, to help the Iraqi Christians, who have been designate by al-Qaeda – even after the attack – as “legitimate targets.”
The five archbishops wrote: “Our ordeal is heavy, and seems to be long. The carnage that took place at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Baghdad, with 58 deaths, including two young priests, and 67 wounded, has deeply shaken us. We are losing patience, but we do not lose faith or hope. An event of such magnitude that took place just after the Rome Synod, shocks us even more. What we need is your prayers and your moral and fraternal support. Your friendship encourages us to stay in our homeland, and to maintain hope. Without it we feel alone and isolated. We need your compassion facing all that is affecting the lives of the innocent Christians and Muslims. Stay with us, stay with us until the plague has passed. May the Lord protect us all..”
These five archbishops were in Rome participating in the synod on the Middle East. Benedict XVI had invited bishops and religious experts from ten countries in the region to act to curb the phenomenon of emigration of Christians to the West, and to renew dialogue with moderate Muslims to counter radical Islam.
Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris, who also participated at the Synod, read last at Lourdes the call of the Iraqi bishops before the French bishops who ware meeting in plenary assembly. He expressed his great emotion, ensuring of prayers, support and friendship of the Catholics in France who were “deeply shocked.” He stressed that they support the Iraqi Christians’ legitimate desire to remain in their homeland where they have been present since the earliest centuries.”
A mass was held on Sunday at the cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris, organized by the Oeuvre d##Orient, for the victims of the attack. In Rome, Benedict XVI has declared that he was “deeply touched” by these “barbaric attacks.” The Pope also condemned “the senseless violence, more especially that it hit defenseless people, gathered in the house of God, which is a house of love and reconciliation.” In conclusion, the Archbishop of Paris assured that “We are talking about you around us and we insist that international bodies take measures in face of your plight and act decisively.” But he also hoped that “the Spirit of God (…) may grow in the heart of all men, of whatever religion, the desire for true peace and justice.”
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Le Figaro (abridged)