Source: The Jordan Times
By Amy Hybels
Fifteen-year-old Peter Mikho stood on his chair, proudly waving the Iraqi flag as soon as he spotted Pope Benedict XVI circling Amman International Stadium in the Popemobile.
His younger sister, Cecil Mikho, stood nearby, waving the Jordanian flag in one hand while clutching the bright yellow and white flag of the Vatican in the other.
Cecil and Peter were among the 40 Iraqi children dressed in white from the Chaldean Catholic Vicariate in Amman who received communion during the Pope Benedict’s historic Mass on Sunday morning.
The Mass also marked Cecil’s First Communion, an important event in the life of a young Catholic. On Sunday morning, she joined hundreds of children in the stadium in receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time.
The 11-year-old moved with her mother and brother to Jordan shortly after the start of the war in Iraq in 2003.
Her father still works in Iraq, a concern for the fifth grader who said if given the chance, she would ask the Pope to “make Iraq better and safer” so her family could return to their home in Baghdad.
Valentina Manuel, 13, hoisted her Iraqi flag high in the air, posing for pictures before the Popemobile entered the stadium. Manuel moved to Jordan seven years ago with her mother and three siblings. Her father also works in Iraq.
While the two talk by phone, Manuel said she hasn’t seen her father since 2007.
The separation is hard on her family.
Manuel said if she could ask the Pope one question she would ask him, “Would you visit Iraq if you were given the chance?”
The family’s priest, Father Raymond Moussalli is the Chaldean patriarchal vicar in Jordan. He says the 5,000 Iraqi Chaldean Catholics living right here in Jordan face a unique set of challenges.
“A lot of mothers come to the church asking for help in reunifying families,” Moussalli explained.
“We try to support them by providing money or rent or by offering educational programmes for their children, but it’s not enough. We need to find a way to reunify the families.”
Baghdad University professor, Samir Stipho, knows all about the challenges of keeping the family together.
He and his family left the violence in Iraq in 2006. After spending a year in Jordan he resettled his family in Phoenix, Arizona.
This week Stipho flew back to Jordan so that his 12-year-old son Faysal could join the kids from the Iraqi church in receiving his First Communion during the Pope’s outdoor Mass.
Stipho admits the sight of the children waving the Iraqi flags in the stadium Sunday morning was overwhelming.
“It broke my heart,” he said. “The tears started when I saw the flags waving. Nobody can forget his country.”
And the children don’t want the Pope to forget them. Many were allowed to come forward following the Mass for a chance to greet the Pope before he exited the stadium.
While Cecil Mikho didn’t get to ask the Pope any questions, she said she was able to touch his hand, a moment she described as “amazing” on what has turned into a day of firsts for her here in Jordan.
Fifteen-year-old Peter Mikho stood on his chair, proudly waving the Iraqi flag as soon as he spotted Pope Benedict XVI circling Amman International Stadium in the Popemobile.
His younger sister, Cecil Mikho, stood nearby, waving the Jordanian flag in one hand while clutching the bright yellow and white flag of the Vatican in the other.
Cecil and Peter were among the 40 Iraqi children dressed in white from the Chaldean Catholic Vicariate in Amman who received communion during the Pope Benedict’s historic Mass on Sunday morning.
The Mass also marked Cecil’s First Communion, an important event in the life of a young Catholic. On Sunday morning, she joined hundreds of children in the stadium in receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time.
The 11-year-old moved with her mother and brother to Jordan shortly after the start of the war in Iraq in 2003.
Her father still works in Iraq, a concern for the fifth grader who said if given the chance, she would ask the Pope to “make Iraq better and safer” so her family could return to their home in Baghdad.
Valentina Manuel, 13, hoisted her Iraqi flag high in the air, posing for pictures before the Popemobile entered the stadium. Manuel moved to Jordan seven years ago with her mother and three siblings. Her father also works in Iraq.
While the two talk by phone, Manuel said she hasn’t seen her father since 2007.
The separation is hard on her family.
Manuel said if she could ask the Pope one question she would ask him, “Would you visit Iraq if you were given the chance?”
The family’s priest, Father Raymond Moussalli is the Chaldean patriarchal vicar in Jordan. He says the 5,000 Iraqi Chaldean Catholics living right here in Jordan face a unique set of challenges.
“A lot of mothers come to the church asking for help in reunifying families,” Moussalli explained.
“We try to support them by providing money or rent or by offering educational programmes for their children, but it’s not enough. We need to find a way to reunify the families.”
Baghdad University professor, Samir Stipho, knows all about the challenges of keeping the family together.
He and his family left the violence in Iraq in 2006. After spending a year in Jordan he resettled his family in Phoenix, Arizona.
This week Stipho flew back to Jordan so that his 12-year-old son Faysal could join the kids from the Iraqi church in receiving his First Communion during the Pope’s outdoor Mass.
Stipho admits the sight of the children waving the Iraqi flags in the stadium Sunday morning was overwhelming.
“It broke my heart,” he said. “The tears started when I saw the flags waving. Nobody can forget his country.”
And the children don’t want the Pope to forget them. Many were allowed to come forward following the Mass for a chance to greet the Pope before he exited the stadium.
While Cecil Mikho didn’t get to ask the Pope any questions, she said she was able to touch his hand, a moment she described as “amazing” on what has turned into a day of firsts for her here in Jordan.
