Communion and Liberation follows the call of the
Italian bishops to pray Sunday, November 21 for the Christians of Iraq, "who
are suffering the tremendous trial of blood witness to the faith" (Final
communiqué of the Assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference, November 11, 2010).The
Movement invites all its members to participate in Mass according to the
intentions of Benedict XVI, who the day after the grave attack in the Syrian
Catholic cathedral of Baghdad that left dozens dead and wounded, said, "I pray
for the victims of this absurd violence, all the more savage because it struck
defenseless people gathered in God's house, which is a house of love and
reconciliation. I also express my affectionate closeness to the Christian
community, struck once again, and encourage the pastors and faithful to be
strong and steady in hope. In the face of the heinous episodes of violence that
continue tearing the populations of the Middle East to pieces, I renew my
grieved call for peace: it is the gift of God, but also the result of the
efforts of people of good will, of national and international institutions. May
everyone join their strengths to put an end to all violence! (Comments after
the Angelus, November 1, 2010).
Addressing all members of Communion and
Liberation, Fr. Julián Carrón said that "participation in Sunday Mass according
to the intentions of the Pope and the bishops is a gesture of real communion
and charity because we feel that the Christians of Iraq are our friends, even
if we do not know them directly."
As Fr. Giussani said, "If the sacrifice is
accepting the circumstances of life, as they happen, because they make us
correspondent, participants in the death of Christ, then sacrifice becomes the
keystone of all life [...] but also the keystone for understanding the history of
man. The entire history of man depends on that man dead on the cross, and I can
influence the history of man - I can influence the people who live in Japan
now, the people in danger at sea now; I can intervene to help the pain of the
women who lose their children now, in this moment - if I accept the sacrifice
that this moment imposes." (L. Giussani, Is It Possible to Live This Way? Book
3: Charity, McGill-Queen's University Press, pp. 74-75.)
For this reason, added
Carrón, "if a gesture of prayer can influence the change of people in Japan, it
can also change something in Iraq. May the sacrifice we make for the Christians
of Iraq and Sunday's prayer be a gesture with which we invoke, implore from God
protection for them."
The Communion & Liberation Press Office
Milan, Italy
November 18, 2010
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