On Friday 5th November, the church of St. Catherine in Bethlehem could hardly hold a large crowd of Christians, of all denominations, who had come to pray with and for the martyrs of Iraq, brutally murdered on Sunday 31st October during the liturgy by a group claiming links with al-Qaeda.
Presided by Monsignor Grégoire Boutros Melki, the eucharistic liturgy in the Syriac ritual was concelebrated by two Iraqi Franciscan friars, Nerwan al-Banna and Haitham Yalda. To support the Syrica patriarchal exarch with their prayers, there were numerous prelates present, including the Apostolic Delegate, Monsignor Antonio Franco, most of the Ordinaries of the Holy Land or their representatives, about forty priests and also several Orthodox, Syriac, Greek and Armenian bishops and priests.
Two weeks after the end of the Synod, the Church of the Holy Land has experienced in its flesh and in its prayer this subject of “Communion and Witness”, becoming one in mourning as in faith. On the other hand, Monsignor Shomali in his homily, reminded his faithful not to lament, but to have faith and hope.
Referring to passages of St. Ephrem, the great Syriac saint, “Brother, wait for your exodus every day and prepare for this journey, as the irreversible order to leave will come all of a sudden, and he who is caught unprepared will be miserable” he underlined that, as they were in prayer at exactly the time of the summons, the Lord certainly found them ready. “If someone has done good in this life, that is to say, they have supported trials and tribulations because of the Lord and if they have done what He likes, it is with great joy that his soul will be raised to heaven, accompanied by the angels.”
The assembly, with two ministers of the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Ziad Bandak and Mrs. Khouloud Daibes, as well as the mayor of the city, Victor Batarseh, in the front pew, was a concentrate of the Middle East. The Palestinians were mixed with Syrians, Iraqis, Lebanese, Egyptians and Jordanians. They were Catholics, Apostolics, Orthodox or Protestant… or perhaps they were all, at that very moment, in the intensity of their prayers, Christians of Iraq, at least they were only Christians of the Middle East, oscillating between faith, hope and uncertainty over the future of their presence in their respective lands.
How did they understand the words of Mons. Shomali, taken from Tertullian and the message of condolence and support from Pope Benedict XVI: “May this sacrifice be a seed of peace and renewal”?
At the end of the Mass, Friar Nerwan read a message from the Palestinian President Abu Mazen, who declared the sorrow of the Palestinian government and all the people for the events of Baghdad, that these perpetrators cannot claim they acted in the name of Islam or the Koran, and that all the Palestinians are united with the families in mourning and the Iraqi people.
At the end of the celebration, the crowd gathered in the town hall square, holding a candle, to pray again and listen to some speeches, including another message of condolence and communion from the Palestinian Authority. Friar Haitham took the floor saying “We who are here half-way between the mosque and the Basilica of the Nativity, make an appeal for the violence to cease in Iraq.”
For Mons. Melki, the whole celebration was extremely moving “whilst Mons. William was speaking, I almost held back my tears. His words certainly touched us all, but I was impressed by the participation of the faithful. It was my perception that in the midst of such ordeals, Christians are like and feel as One. I looked at the bishops, the Catholics, but also the Orthodox, the Syriacs, the Greeks and the Armenians.
I saw pilgrims join us and many local faithful from Bethlehem and the surroundings, but also from Jerusalem and as far as Ramallah. I felt and perceived very strongly a sort of concretization of the Synod.”
“I have to say that, as the representative of a Church, weakly represented here in numerical terms, I was happy, despite the ordeal, to see that in such a short time and thanks to the collaboration of Father Falet, Secretary of the Assembly of the Ordinaries of the Holy Land, we were able to get the message across and the invitation to everybody and that in such a short time the response was so generous. I have to say that it went beyond all my expectations.
I was not expecting such a large crowd and this atmosphere of prayer and piety that reigned throughout the celebration.
We wondered whether there was a concomitance between this drama and the end of the Synod. Of course there was none. The next day another attack killed 60 Shiite Muslims. Iraq is in a state of chaos following the invasion, and the problem has to be solved at its source. We have to hope that Iraq and the whole of region can at last find peace in reciprocal respect.”
Mab
Presided by Monsignor Grégoire Boutros Melki, the eucharistic liturgy in the Syriac ritual was concelebrated by two Iraqi Franciscan friars, Nerwan al-Banna and Haitham Yalda. To support the Syrica patriarchal exarch with their prayers, there were numerous prelates present, including the Apostolic Delegate, Monsignor Antonio Franco, most of the Ordinaries of the Holy Land or their representatives, about forty priests and also several Orthodox, Syriac, Greek and Armenian bishops and priests.
Two weeks after the end of the Synod, the Church of the Holy Land has experienced in its flesh and in its prayer this subject of “Communion and Witness”, becoming one in mourning as in faith. On the other hand, Monsignor Shomali in his homily, reminded his faithful not to lament, but to have faith and hope.
Referring to passages of St. Ephrem, the great Syriac saint, “Brother, wait for your exodus every day and prepare for this journey, as the irreversible order to leave will come all of a sudden, and he who is caught unprepared will be miserable” he underlined that, as they were in prayer at exactly the time of the summons, the Lord certainly found them ready. “If someone has done good in this life, that is to say, they have supported trials and tribulations because of the Lord and if they have done what He likes, it is with great joy that his soul will be raised to heaven, accompanied by the angels.”
The assembly, with two ministers of the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Ziad Bandak and Mrs. Khouloud Daibes, as well as the mayor of the city, Victor Batarseh, in the front pew, was a concentrate of the Middle East. The Palestinians were mixed with Syrians, Iraqis, Lebanese, Egyptians and Jordanians. They were Catholics, Apostolics, Orthodox or Protestant… or perhaps they were all, at that very moment, in the intensity of their prayers, Christians of Iraq, at least they were only Christians of the Middle East, oscillating between faith, hope and uncertainty over the future of their presence in their respective lands.
How did they understand the words of Mons. Shomali, taken from Tertullian and the message of condolence and support from Pope Benedict XVI: “May this sacrifice be a seed of peace and renewal”?
At the end of the Mass, Friar Nerwan read a message from the Palestinian President Abu Mazen, who declared the sorrow of the Palestinian government and all the people for the events of Baghdad, that these perpetrators cannot claim they acted in the name of Islam or the Koran, and that all the Palestinians are united with the families in mourning and the Iraqi people.
At the end of the celebration, the crowd gathered in the town hall square, holding a candle, to pray again and listen to some speeches, including another message of condolence and communion from the Palestinian Authority. Friar Haitham took the floor saying “We who are here half-way between the mosque and the Basilica of the Nativity, make an appeal for the violence to cease in Iraq.”
For Mons. Melki, the whole celebration was extremely moving “whilst Mons. William was speaking, I almost held back my tears. His words certainly touched us all, but I was impressed by the participation of the faithful. It was my perception that in the midst of such ordeals, Christians are like and feel as One. I looked at the bishops, the Catholics, but also the Orthodox, the Syriacs, the Greeks and the Armenians.
I saw pilgrims join us and many local faithful from Bethlehem and the surroundings, but also from Jerusalem and as far as Ramallah. I felt and perceived very strongly a sort of concretization of the Synod.”
“I have to say that, as the representative of a Church, weakly represented here in numerical terms, I was happy, despite the ordeal, to see that in such a short time and thanks to the collaboration of Father Falet, Secretary of the Assembly of the Ordinaries of the Holy Land, we were able to get the message across and the invitation to everybody and that in such a short time the response was so generous. I have to say that it went beyond all my expectations.
I was not expecting such a large crowd and this atmosphere of prayer and piety that reigned throughout the celebration.
We wondered whether there was a concomitance between this drama and the end of the Synod. Of course there was none. The next day another attack killed 60 Shiite Muslims. Iraq is in a state of chaos following the invasion, and the problem has to be solved at its source. We have to hope that Iraq and the whole of region can at last find peace in reciprocal respect.”
Mab