By Baghdadhope It would be surprising to know that in a Chaldean church, anywhere in the world it is, a mass in memory of the late Archbishop Faraj P. Raho, the bishop of Mosul abducted and killed last year, has not been celebrated in recent weeks so great is the affection that bound him to his community.
From Karamles in northern Iraq, where on March 14 2008 the bishop was buried in a touching celebration; to Baghdad, where the mass celebrated by Msgr. Shleimun Warduni was attended by the Patriarch of the Chaldean Church, Mar Emmanuel III Delly; to Esklstuna and Stockholm in Sweden; to Toronto in the Chaldean Church of the Good Shepherd, and Oakville in Canada with an ecumenical ceremony attended not only by Chaldean faithful and priests but also by priests of the Assyrian Church of the East, of the Syriac Orthodox church and by the bishop of Mosul of the Ancient Church of the East, Mar Thoma; to California, in the Chaldean Diocese of St. Peter where to the memory of Archbishop Raho was devoted to meditation on the Via Crucis, the last public prayer that the bishop held before being abducted, to Paris, where a Mass was celebrated in the church of the Virgin Mary by Msgr. Petrus Yusef and another will be tomorrow by Msgr. Rabban Al Qas, Chaldean bishop of Amadhiya and patriarchal administrator of Erbil, by Msgr. Marc Stenger, Bishop of Troyes and president of Pax Christi (France) and again by Msgr. Petrus Yusef.
On last Sunday a Mass was celebrated in the Chaldean church of Mar Qardagh, in Erbil.
On last Sunday a Mass was celebrated in the Chaldean church of Mar Qardagh, in Erbil.
The parish priest of Mar Qardagh, Father Rayan P. Atto, told to Baghdadhope how in his homely he quoted a speech Msgr. Raho made immediately after one of the many attacks that in recent years hit the churches in Iraq.
In that speech, recalled Father Atto, Msgr. Raho urged the faithful not to speculate upon the events that were affecting them, the brutal murder of Father Ragheed Ganni, killed in Mosul in June of 2007 along with the deacons of the Chaldean Church of the Holy Spirit, or that of Father Paul Iskandar, a Syriac Orthodox priest kidnapped and brutally murdered in Mosul too, not to worry to find a reason for them but to trust to the saving certainty of faith that alone can lead men out of the abyss. Msgr. Raho also reminded to everyone how the Iraqi Christian community had its roots in ancient times and that had always been characterized by his acting in a "friendly way" in its relation to all other parts of the country.
"With that mass," said Father Atto "we wanted to remember Msgr. Raho, his charisma, his goodness of heart, his courage. A man who, it must be emphasized, was estimated and loved by his parishioners as the shepherd of the community but also by many Muslims who appreciated the time all his qualities as a man and as a priest."
Tomorrow, March 14, in St. Paul Chaldean church in Mosul Msgr. Shleimun Warduni, the Chaldean Vicar Patriarch will celebrate a Mass in memory of a bishop who, martyr of the faith, everyone remembers as a man with a strong character, but capable of great kindness, generosity and understanding .