Sunday Angelus-Chile, Iraq, Galician Leader Visit

Pope Benedict XVI poses with Galician President Alberto Nunez Feijoo (R) during a meeting at the Vatican March 1, 2010. (Daylife)









VATICAN CITY, 28 FEB 2010 (VIS) - At midday today, the Holy Father appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with faithful gathered below in St. Peter's Square.

Benedict XVI began his remarks by referring to his recently-concluded spiritual exercises with members of the Roman Curia. "We spent", he said, "days of meditation and intense prayer, during which we reflected on the priestly vocation, in keeping with the Year for Priests currently being celebrated by the Church".

Commenting then on today's liturgy, in which St. Luke recounts the episode of the Transfiguration, the Pope explained how the Evangelist "describes the event using two elements: Jesus face which changed appearance, and His clothes which became dazzling white, in the presence of Moses and Elijah, symbol of the Law and the Prophets. The three disciples present at the scene were overcome with sleep. Theirs was the attitude of people who, though witnesses of divine prodigies, fail to understand. Only by struggling against their torpor could Peter, James and John 'see' the glory of Jesus".

A little later, as Peter speaks to Jesus in amazement, a cloud came and covered them. "It was a cloud which, while covering, revealed the glory of God, as happened with the people wandering in the desert", said the Holy Father. "Their eyes could not see, but their ears heard the voice emerging from the cloud: 'This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to Him'.

"Then", he added, "the disciples no longer found themselves before a transfigured face or dazzling garments, nor a cloud revealing the divine presence. Before their eyes 'Jesus was found alone', ... and this is what must suffice us for our journey. He is the only voice to listen to, the only one to follow, He Who climbing towards Jerusalem would give His life and one day 'transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of His glory'".

"The Transfiguration reminds us that the joys God disseminates in our lives are not goals in themselves but lights He gives us on our earthly pilgrimage, that 'Jesus alone' may be our Law and His Word the criterion that guides our existence".

"In this period of Lent", Benedict XVI concluded, "I invite everyone to meditate assiduously upon the Gospel. Furthermore, it is my hope that in this Year for Priests, pastors 'may truly be pervaded by the Word of God, know it authentically and love it to the extent that it truly does give them life and form their thoughts'".

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Papal Appeals For Iraqi Christians

Iraqi faithful hold a banner prior to the start of Pope Benedict XVI's Angelus prayer in St. Peter's square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010. The Pontiff appealed to the Iraqi authorities to provide security to Christians minority following the recent spate of killings against Christians in Iraq. (Daylife Photos-AP, Reuters, Getty)








Papal Intentions for March:



Calls on Iraqi Government to Protect Vulnerable Minorities:

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 28, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is calling on the Iraqi government to do all they can to stop the recent killing spree of Christians in the northern city of Mosul.

Before praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope called the recent killings of Christians as "tragic news," and that it filled him with "deep sadness."

At least eight Christians have been killed in the last two weeks. The last murder occurred Tuesday, when an armed commando entered the home of an Assyrian Christian family, killing the father and two sons in front of his wife and daughter, whose lives were spared by the criminals.

Some 15,000 Christians remain in the Muslim-majority city of Mosul, where their families have lived for 2,000 years.

The Holy Father said that during his weeklong spiritual exercises, which ended Saturday, he "followed with much concern the other episodes of violence, perpetrated in the martyred land of Iraq, which have harmed defenseless persons of various religious affiliations."

"I often prayed for all the victims of those attacks and today I would like to join myself spiritually in prayer for peace and the restoration of security promoted by the council of bishops at Nineveh," he added.

"I am affectionately near to the Christians communities of the whole country," said Benedict XVI. "Do not weary of being a ferment for good for the homeland to which, for centuries, you have rightfully belonged!"

Protest

Some 1,000 Christians gathered today in Mosul to protest the almost-daily killings. In Kirkuk, a similar march will take place Monday.

In 2000, as many as 5,000 Christian families lived in Mosul. They have endured multiple attacks, particularly in September 2008, after which about half the Christian population fled the city. Many of those subsequently returned.

The murders come just ahead of March 7 parliamentary elections in the country, which many see to be decisive for determining the future direction of the country.

"In the delicate political phase that Iraq is passing through I call upon the civil authorities that they do everything possible to restore security to the population and, especially to the most vulnerable religious minorities," urged Benedict XVI.

"It is my wish that they do not given in to the temptation to allow the temporary and special interests prevail over the safety and the fundamental rights of every citizen," he continued.

"Finally," the Pope added, "as I greet the Iraqis present here in the piazza, I exhort the international community to do its best to give the Iraqis a future of reconciliation and justice...

Reuters:

MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - At least 1,000 minority Christians, many holding olive branches, marched in protest near the restive city of Mosul on Sunday to urge the Iraqi government to act decisively after a series of killings.

World

At least eight Christians have been killed in the last two weeks in the turbulent northern city, 390 km (250 miles) north of Baghdad, prompting Pope Benedict to appeal on Sunday for Iraq's Christians to be better protected.

Two of those attacked had gone missing, their bodies later found dumped in the street with gunshot wounds. Others were shot dead in the street, near their homes, or at their place of work.

Some 683 Christian families, or 4,098 people, fled Mosul between February 20 and 27 following the attacks, a United Nations report said on Sunday.

The murders came just weeks before Iraq's March 7 parliamentary election, which has the potential to help cement an end to seven years of war or plunge a still-divided country into a new cycle of violence.

"I appeal to the civil authorities to complete every effort to give security again to the population, and in particular, to the most vulnerable religious minorities," the Pope said in his weekly blessing from Vatican City.

Priests in religious vestments led the protest procession in the Christian town of Hamdaniya, 40 km (25 miles) east of Mosul.

"The blood of innocents screams for terrorism and violence to be stopped," read one banner.

Sunni Islamist insurgents such as al Qaeda have long targeted Christians, Yazidis, Shabaks, and other Iraqi minorities, as well as majority Shi'ites, whom they consider heretics. Christians number an estimated 750,000 in Iraq, a small minority in a country of 28 million.

Al Qaeda has vowed to use "military means" to derail the national ballot next month, which it sees as a farce to ensure Shi'ite domination of Sunnis.

Targeting Christians is an effective way to highlight the shortcomings of Iraq's security forces, given the media attention that attacks against Christians attract. Iraqi Muslims are killed in much greater numbers.

Making life especially difficult for minorities in Iraq's north is their precarious position among the region's larger Arab and Kurd communities, which are feuding over land and oil.

The dispute has left a security vacuum in some areas which al Qaeda has exploited, even as its influence has waned elsewhere in Iraq.

"We blame the federal and local governments and the head of security operations in Nineveh (province) for the killing of our Christian sons," said Saad Qanyous, one of the Christian protesters.

Iraqi Christians Remember Martyrs

Iraqi Christians attend Christmas mass at the Virgin Mary church on December 25, 2008 in Baghdad, Iraq (Getty Images) Asia News:

Diocese remembers 409 AD in which hundreds of Christians people were beheaded for their faith and the continued history of Iraqi Christian Martyrs.

For 1600 years, Iraq has been "a country of martyrs", which finds in the “Holy Spirit and the Eucharist" the strength to bear witness to the faith “despite persecution”.

So says Mgr. Louis Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk, on the eve of a week of celebrations to mark 1600 years since the massacre of Iraqi martyrs. A long series of past and present violence, but one which has not stopped "the sacred history of the Christians ... and their journey."

In 409 AD hundreds of Christians were beheaded for their faith. "Among them - said Msgr. Sako - a widow named Scirin-Miskenta, with two children, and general Tahmazgerd, who carried out the decree of the king, who ordered the massacre.

"Seeing their faith, serenity and the trust of the widow" -continued the prelate - "Tahmzgerd converted to Christianity" and as a result was "beheaded later." Around 470, in order to commemorate the massacre of Christians, the bishop of Kirkuk Maruta "built a sanctuary” on the hill where "the martyrs were buried”.

The "Red Church", as it is called,is now "the graveyard of the Chaldeans"; the relics of martyrs, custodied on the main altar, have always been a destination for the processions of the faithful.

To celebrate the anniversary of the martyrdom, the diocese has organized a series of events: on Wednesday, a day of fasting for peace; Thursday, hymns of the martyrs and a conference at the recently restored Sanctuary; on Friday Mass will be celebrated; on Saturday a play, staged by the choir of the cathedral and the church of St. Joseph. Under the slogan "true to our fathers in faith," Christians in Kirkuk want to "bear witness to the faith, love, trust and openness."

The history of violence and persecution against Christians has continued uninterrupted. Abductions, kidnappings, assassinations, fleeing families are the dramatic testimony of a "chain of martyrs - underlines Msgr. Sako - that continues.

"Our country is dotted with shrines to martyrs that people constantly visit, it is a spirituality of martyrdom". Christians find the strength to "remain faithful" in the "Holy Spirit, but also in the liturgy, especially the Eucharist."

"In every Mass" - added the archbishop of Kirkuk – "we are called upon to make the sacrifice of Christ in our life, in his words; take, break, give ... Do this in memory of me: this is the sacred history of Christians and ... their journey”.

Plight of Iraqi Christians