The memory of the large number of innocent
Iraqis who have shed their blood unjustly - Christians and Muslims - is
an important occasion to renew faith in God and strengthen faith and
hope.
But at the same time we must all condemn these heinous acts of
violence that are an insult to religion and to humanity.
The
second anniversary of the massacre in the cathedral of Baghdad October
31, 2010, in which 58 innocent people were killed, and the 37 Christian
"martyrs" killed in Kirkuk since 2003 were commemorated in the Kirkuk
cathedral by Chaldean Archbishop, Msgr. Louis Sako, during a ceremony in
which families of the 37 victims carried a photo of their lost loved
one in procession and placed it on the altar (in the photo).
In
the crowded cathedral, Halla, sister of Hindi Saad, a 29 year old
engineer who was kidnapped on 11 August 2005 and then killed and his
body thrown onto the street, witnessed the meaning of faith for her
family.
"It does not matter - she said with tears in her eyes -
what we experience, it is important how we live and how we can turn
these events into an encounter with God and with others, and that we
make it a source of grace and renewal, life and resurrection, without
abandoning ourselves to the absurdity of our brutal tragedy. "
"We
did not expect this end for my brother Saad, who was in the heyday of
his youth. We immagined a bright future for him, but God's plan was
different. On 11 August 2005, he was abducted and brutally murdered . We
were shocked and very sad, especially our parents. Words are unable to
express what we experienced, but what we could not cope on our own, we
discovered this spiritually through our prayer: we pondered the example
of the Virgin Mary when they tortured her young son Jesus and crucified
Him unjustly .. We found comfort in prayer and the power of faith: our
Saad was a believer and an honest man, the words of Revelation confirmed
us in the faith: "Be thou faithful unto death, I will give you the
crown of life." (2:10-11). "We are confident that our Saad is in the
Father's glorious kingdom because the Lord's promise is real ".
"This
evening my family and I renew our faith and trust in the Lord and say:
to Him, all glory and praise and thanksgiving and honor and power and
might, forever and ever. Amen."
During his homily, the Archbishop
said that the sacrifice of the martyrs is a reference point for our
faith. "Again tonight we celebrate the memory of a great number of
innocent Iraqis who have shed their blood unjustly Christians and
Muslims. This is an important time to renew our faith in God and
strengthen our faith and hope. At the same time we must all condemn
these heinous acts of violence, which is an insult to religion and
humanity and that does not honor our present civilization. "
"The
tragedy of the Church of Our Lady of Salvation is still vivid in our
memory but also attacks on mosques in the name of God is an offense to
God and does not have anything in common with God nor with humanity. For
our part, we Christians, we deplore this acts of injustice and we
strongly believe that change and democracy are not brought about with
weapons, but with dialogue and the willingness of collaboration. And
that the God who created us is love and mercy, and He will not allow
thei blood to have been shed in vain, but will welcome it as a
satisfactory gift in His glorious kingdom .. And this blood is the seed
of hope, peace, stability and security for our country. "
"Living
together is not a formula, but it is the integration of human, social,
spiritual and political culture. This requires the willingness of
political leaders to dialogue, to work together and maintain the unity
of the country, peace, justice and harmony. Enough violence, defend the
lives of people, each person killed is a huge loss for us and for our
country. "