Vatican City, 28 July 2014 (VIS) –
Yesterday, Sunday, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the
Congregation for the Oriental Churches, presided at the Divine
Liturgy in the Cathedral of St. Paul the Apostle of the Chaldeans in
San Diego, U.S.A. He prayed for the Christians persecuted in Iraq,
the motherland of the Chaldean Church, and also included in his
prayer those in Syria, Palestine and Egypt, as well as those who
belong to the Greek-Catholic community in Ukraine, who are currently
experiencing difficult situations.
The bishop of the eparchy, Sarhad
Yawsip Hermiz Jammo, thanked the cardinal for the consolation that
his visit and his prayers, as the representative of Pope Francis,
offered to al the Christians of the East, and added that, in
communion with Peter's Successor, they would persist in the faith of
Abraham and, like the patriarch, they would prepare to leave for the
land God will show to them, learning to read history in a higher
dimension.
In his homily, Cardinal Sandri thanked
those present and those Christians who suffer for their faith in the
Gospel in situations of conflict, and assured them of Pope Francis'
prayers and blessing and the closeness of all the Church. He
expressed his hope for peace and justice for all those who have been
afflicted by incredible and senseless violence.
The prefect of the Congregation for the
Oriental Churches, in his visit to California, met with the Maronite
and Syro-Malabar communities of Los Angeles and San Diego. During the
coming days he will visit the Armenians and greet the priests of the
Syrian, Coptic, Greek-Melkite and Romanian Greek-Catholic Churches
who exercise their pastoral ministry in this region of the United
States. The already populous Eastern is expected to increase
significantly, especially from Iraq, due to the current conflict. He
underlined that immigration is a pastoral challenge of historical
proportions, and requires great efforts on the part of the Latin
Church in support of the Oriental Churches.
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