Posted on 05/09/2009 7:03:28 AM PDT by NYer
Rome, Italy, May 9, 2009 / 12:33 am (CNA).- During the Papal Mass on May 10 in Amman, Jordan, Pope Benedict XVI will give First Communion to 40 Iraqi children, according to the Secretary of the Chaldean Diocese of Jordan, Msgr. Raymond Moussalli.
The SIR news agency reports that Msgr. Moussalli, who is in charge of welcoming Iraqi refugees in Amman, said Jordan children would be among the group as well. "Their desire is to pray with the Pope for reconciliation and peace in Iraq. It will be an important moment for us faithful not only in Jordan but also in Iraq."
"Everyone trusts in the words of comfort and support from the Holy Father," he continued. "Their desire is to see him in Iraq but I don’t know if or when this will be possible," the monsignor said.
"There is great hope among the Iraqi refugees in Jordan," he explained. "In addition, today a group of Christian and Muslim intellectuals from Iraq that live in Jordan have written a letter asking Benedict XVI to take note of the sufferings of the people and the Church in Iraq so that everything possible is done to stop the flow of Christians out of the country. The letter has been sent to the Nuncio," he said
For those who watched this moving event, the children sang two hymns from this Season of Resurrection and Marian Month of May. The first was The Lord is My Shepherd and the final hymn was Immaculate Mary, with the Arabic refrain of 'Salaam, Salaam, la-kee-ya Maryam / Salaam, Salaam, la-kee-ya Maryam'.
OMG!! How wonderful!!! There is HOPE where there is LOVE.
Pray these children of God are not marked for death by the islamic pigs.
Imagine, having the Pope himself preside over your first communion.
They won’t be....God will take care of them.
What a memento they will have for an entire lifetime!
Yes,God will certainly take care of them but that doesn't necessarily mean that they won't be killed.I heard an interview on the BBC a few days ago of an Anglican priest somewhere in Iraq whose congregation is made up mostly of converts from I Slam.He said that in the last few years a huge number of his parishioners (for some reason the number 90 comes to my mind) have been murdered...many,he said,in broad daylight.So I wouldn't bet my last nickel that these kids will lead long,carefree lives.
oh........we need to pray for ALL Christians that live in Muslim nations.
These Iraqi children now live in Jordan, one of the few Middle Eastern countries which protects the rights of all peoples to practice their religion.
I would encourage everyone to follow the EWTN coverage of this papal pilgrimage. Vatican Radio and EWTN are both providing authoritative commentators. More importantly, Jordanian King Abdullah II repeated this message yesterday in his welcome to the Holy Father and his entourage. The christian community in Jordan is small - only 250,000 of which 120,000 are catholic. The official state religion is Islam and christians are not allowed to proselityze. Otherwise, they are free to construct Churches, Universities, Family Centers, et al. The King encourages christians to come to his country.
That said, should these children decide to move back to Iraq once they have grown up, they run the same risk of any other christian in an Islamic Republic, even death.
Since these children are the descendants of Christians in Mesopotamia since long before Islam they would be considerably safer than converts from Islam, whom the fanatic Islamists are committed to murdering.
The Muslims have gotten around that by saying that EVERYONE is “born Muslim;” therefore, people who aren’t Muslims are apostates and can be killed.
I think the same is true of all of us. Here in my tiny town in Florida, the liberals have been launching attacks on the Church because of the bishops' opposition to Obama's honor at Notre Dame. One kind of martyrdom or another is probably approaching for all of us, and we just have to accept that fact.
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