(Vatican Radio) The Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, was the homilist at Divine Liturgy in the Chaldean cathedral of Baghdad on Friday afternoon. The Liturgy and Cardinal Sandri’s participation in it were part of the Prefect’s three-day visit to the country, which began on Friday morning.
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The official schedule of Cardinal Sandri’s brief but intense visit includes a cultural excursion to the National Museum, encounters with the country’s Catholic clergy and ecumenical leadership, a trip to Anbar province and the Nineveh Plain to meet with displaced persons – both Christian and Muslim – and with the Caritas team and others assisting them. Cardinal Sandri is also scheduled to meet with diplomats and with Iraqi President Fuad Masum.
In his homily on Friday evening, Cardinal Sandri focused on the reading proclaimed from the Acts of the Apostles, in which St. Paul appears before King Herod Agrippa (Acts 26:1-32). He renewed his call – and the Holy Father’s – for assistance from the international community in favor of all those facing persecution in Iraq, and especially for the country’s suffering and sorely tried Christian community, thanking the UN’s High Representative for Iraq for his presence at the Liturgy.
Cardinal Sandri had particular words of encouragement for the Christians of Iraq. “The Cross of the Son of God continues to be planted in this land,” he said, “in order that the definitive event of the Resurrection might embrace and involve every man – as we read in the Prophet Isaiah and as it is recalled in the Gospel according to St. Luke: ‘All flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, was the homilist at Divine Liturgy in the Chaldean cathedral of Baghdad on Friday afternoon. The Liturgy and Cardinal Sandri’s participation in it were part of the Prefect’s three-day visit to the country, which began on Friday morning. The official schedule of…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) The Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, was the homilist at Divine Liturgy in the Chaldean cathedral of Baghdad on Friday afternoon. The Liturgy and Cardinal Sandri’s participation in it were part of the Prefect’s three-day visit to the country, which began on Friday morning. The official schedule of…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) The Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, was the homilist at Divine Liturgy in the Chaldean cathedral of Baghdad on Friday afternoon. The Liturgy and Cardinal Sandri’s participation in it were part of the Prefect’s three-day visit to the country, which began on Friday morning. The official schedule of…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday participated in the opening ceremony of the 2015 edition of the Milan Expo – the Universal Exhibition that the northern Italian city of Milan is hosting from May 1 to October 31, 2015, which this year is focusing on the theme: Feeding the planet – energy for life .
Over the course of the Expo’s six-month run, more than 140 participating countries are to showcase the best of their technology and demonstrate its usefulness in the cause of eradicating hunger and achieving global food security. In addition to the exhibitor nations, the Expo also involves international organizations, and expects to welcome over 20 million visitors to its 1.1 million square meters of exhibition area.
In a video message prepared for the inauguration on Friday, May 1, Pope Francis said, “I would like to make myself the spokesman for all our brothers and sisters, Christians and also non-Christians, as children whom God loves and for whom He gave His life: He broke the bread, which is the flesh of his Son become Man; He taught us to ask God the Father, ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ The Expo is a propitious occasion to globalize solidarity. Let us not waste it, but make the very most of it.”
The Expo organizers hope the event will serve as a platform for the exchange of ideas and shared solutions to the problem of food security, and give everyone – visitors and participants – the opportunity to discover and taste some of the world’s most delicious foods, while learning more about the best of the agri-food and gastronomic traditions of each of the exhibitor countries.
(from Vatican Radio)…