On Saturday, September 26, a special ceremony was held in the Catholic Cathedral of Essen(Germany:) a welcoming mass for the Iraqi Christian community arrived in the country thanks to the plan for refugees approved by Germany at the end of 2008.
As Father Sami Danka, parish priest of the Chaldean church of Mar Addai and Mar Mari in Essen and one of the concelebrants told to Baghdadhope, the liturgy was lead by the Auxiliary Bishop of Essen Msgr. Franz Vorrath who spoke words of satisfaction with the plan recalling how diversity is the foundation of God's creation and who also expressed the view that Germany and Europe can still give reception on humanitarian grounds to those who flee their country.
Just as the Iraqi Christians arrived in Germany did. And among them the Chaldeans, whose religious tradition, dating back to the Apostles, was recalled by the bishop who stressed its particular rite, its still current use of the language of Jesus, and who wanted the reading of the Gospel in German to be followed by the reading of the same passage in Aramaic.
The ceremony, attended by several representatives of the 22 different foreign communities living in Essen, was also attended by Mr. Rudi Löffelsend, diocesan Caritas head of foreign affairs and by the Minister for generations, family, women and integration in North Rhine-Westphalia, Mr. Armin Laschet who, at the dinner hosted by the bishopric curia after the ceremony, echoed the words of Archbishop Vorrath remembering how diversity, when accompanied by the integration process, is an enrichment for those who welcome and those who arrive.
Father Danka, for his part, thanked the German Government through its representatives for the refugees project that enabled many Chaldean families to start a new life in Germany and expressed his hope that the German government can assist the Iraqis in Iraq contributing thus to the rebirth of the country.