Para leer este el resumen de este articolo by Baghdadhope traducido en español por María Isabel en el blog chileno temas de interés católicos haga clic aquí. The procession arriving at the church of Mar Addai has become a river of people. The color of pain is black. That of the dozens of priests, including those now carrying the coffin on their shoulders, of the soutanes of the bishops, of the clothes of the people, of the banners. In the crowd approaching the church you can see Mar Emmanuell Delly’s Cardinal hat and those of the priests and bishops of the other churches, Orthodox, but also Copts. The coffin is covered with flowers and others are launched at the time of his deposition in front of the altar. The church is full of people, the men in the central nave and the women, as for tradition, in the side ones. All seem astonished, the elderly bishops who many bad experienced had in their life, the dozens of young priests - it seems incredible how many they are in a country where being a priest is so dangerous - the faithful, as well as the numerous representatives of the Muslim community, white spot - the typical headgears - in a black sea.
The word "Qaddish" - "Saint" is sang by the deacons and the funeral ceremony begins for Mgr. Faraj Paulus Rahho, kidnapped in Mosul on 29 February 2008 and whose body was found yesterday in the same city.
It is with the voice of Mgr. Jacques Isaac in the background that after the Eucharist, the coffin is carried by the priests - among them a Coptic - throughout the church because everyone, even in the farthest angle can see it, can give the last farewell to Mgr. Rahho. The tour is long, the crowd is near the coffin, the priests carrying it must avoid the flowers launched by the people, the women screams follow the rhythm of the prayers. In front of the altar Mar Emmanuel speaks with a subtle voice and gives way for the blessing of the coffin to Mgr. Francis Assisi Chullikat, the Apostolic Nuncio, to seal the full union with the Church of Rome. A closeup shows a woman, her head veiled, weeping softly. She is not the only one. The ceremony ends with the burial of Mgr. Faraj Paulus Rahho in a side chapel of the church where already are the mortal remains of Father Ragheed Ghanni. Two martyrs, two of the many, of Iraqi Christianity.
Waiting for a source officially reporting the words spoken by Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly who is celebrating the rite with his two vicars of Baghdad, Mgr. Shleimun Warduni and Mgr. Jacques Issac we remember that Mgr.Rahho was born in Mosul on November 20, 1942. That he was ordained as a priest in 1965 and appointed as the Chaldean bishop of Mosul in 2001. Unclear instead is the date of his death, conventionally set for March 12, 2008 even if no one will ever knows when, in fact, Mgr.Rahho died.
