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Vatican: Bishop of Kurdistan, brings
greetings from Iraq 21.3.2007 |
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Mgr
Rabban al-Qas, bishop of Kurdistan, brings greetings
from Iraq’s faithful and seminarians in Ankawa.
Benedict XVI does the same. Despite the war,
“Christians in Iraq still have faith, hope and
love.”
March 21, 2007
Vatican, -– “The Pope’s love for the Iraqi
Church is of great help and gives us strength to
continue hoping,” said Mgr Rabban al-Qas, Chaldean
bishop of Amadiyah and Erbil (Kurdistan), as he
spoke to AsiaNews about the brief meeting he had
today with Benedict XVI following the Pope’s general
audience in St Peter’s Square.
The prelate, who is currently in Rome, brought to
the Pope “the greetings of his entire diocese, of
the students attending Babel College and St Peter’s
Major Chaldean Seminary who have recently moved to
Ankawa to escape the great insecurity that reigns in
Baghdad.” |
Photo:Asianews it |
In the brief tête-à-tête, Benedict XVI returned the
greetings and “assured that Iraq and all its
seminarians are in his prayers.”
Mgr Rabban also presented the “greetings of Kurdish
authorities, first among them, Kurdistan President
Massoud Barzani, who is involved in the
reconstruction of many Christian villages.”
The bishop explained that many Christians have fled
the capital’s hellish situation or Mosul. Because of
“the growing insecurity, many churches have had to
close and many priests have had to go abroad,
especially in Canada and Germany.”
Reopening the Major Seminary and Babel College—the
only school of theology in Iraq—in Kurdistan has
given the community new hope.
“This Lent saw the faithful turn out in great
numbers,” Mgr al-Qas said. “They came to the Via
Crucis on Fridays as well as to catechism. Sunday
mass in the villages always draws a crowd. Fasting
is always respected throughout the period of
preparation for Easter.”
“The Pope,” he noted, “shows that he loves our
Church and we want to witness love and courage for
the whole world. Iraq’s Christians still have faith
and hope and are convinced that God has not
forgotten them. Sooner or later we shall see peace.”
asianews it
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