The Catholic Weekly 14 March 2021

catholicweekly.com.au 2 NEWS 14, March, 2021 Call 02 9649 6423 or visit www.catholiccemeteries.com.au Consecrated lawns and chapels Sydney’s only Catholic crematorium Monthly mass for the Repose of Souls Funeral directors available for a Catholic service Bereavement pastoral care Serving the Catholic community for over 150 years This visit was amazing for all Archbishop Nona meets with Pope Francis in 2015. Bottom: Relics of a destroyed church in Mosul, and of martyrs and Servants of God Fr Ragged Ganni and Archbishop Faraj Rahu. PHOTO:ALPHONSUS FOK I n this edition Our story begins in 1839 with the Australasian Chronicle, continuing with the Freeman’s Journal in 1850. Level 13, Polding Centre, 133 Liverpool Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. Phone (02) 9390 5400 | Vol 73, No 5175. The Catholic Weekly is published by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney ABN 60 471 267 587 and is printed by ACM Australian Community Media, 159 Bells Line of Road, North Richmond NSW, 2754. News Movies, books Archbishop’s homily Editorial & Letters 1-13 10-11 20-21 24-25 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Kenny (02) 9390 5348 EDITOR Peter Rosengren (02) 9390 5400 REPORTERS Marilyn Rodrigues (02) 9390 5410 Debbie Cramsie (02) 9390 5396 SUBSCRIPTIONS Rita Ng (02) 9390 5411 ADVERTISING AND MARKETING Steve Richards (02) 9390 5404 Katie Clarke (02) 9390 5402 DESIGNERS Renate Cassis Mathew De Sousa LEAVE A GIFT Archdiocese of Sydney Catholic CHARITIES Order your FREE Wills and Bequests Guide today 1800 753 959 or [email protected] myWill SUPPORTINGTHE MINISTRIES OF THE CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY Leaving a gift in a Faith in the trajectory of life catch it now at: thiscatholiclife.com.au FROM PAGE 1 “It was very sad to see the city in that situation, but at the same time it was very good to see the Holy Father praying in the heart of the ancient city with all the churches where Christians have lived since the second century.” Archbishop Nona said that Pope Francis’s visit not only encouraged Iraq’s Christians who are members of the Syr- iac Catholic, Armenian Or- thodox, Syriac Orthodox and Chaldean Catholic churches, but was a blessing for the en- tire country as it rebuilds. The Holy Father’s private meeting with Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, an influ- ential spiritual leader of Shiite Muslims in Iraq, was another “very powerful” moment of the historic trip. “All the world saw Iraq in a different light; there were Muslims, Christians and peo- ple of other faiths all together there with the Holy Father,” the archbishop said. “He has made history in uniting these different groups who have engaged in war against one another for many years.” Archbishop Nona said he hoped the visit would help to set the course for the nation’s future. “It is very important in Iraq to start to see others who are different in respect to religion or ethnicity as one’s brother or sister,” he said. “It is a point that Pope Francis made clear in all of his speeches last week.” The Pope approached his four-day trip from 5-8 March, visting Baghdad, Irbil, Mosul and Quaraqosh as a “pilgrim of penitence” and of peace. The visit also included meetings with dignitaries in- cluding Iraq’s Prime Minis- ter Mustafa al-Kadhimi and President Barham Salih, and President Nechirvan Barzani and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani of the region of Iraqi Kurdistan. With sporadic violence continuing in the country, the trip from March 5-8 involved an intense security operation with the deployment of thou- sands of police and military officers. But the other danger was posed by COVID-19 and the risk that people gathering to see the Pope, who has been vaccinated, would create a surge in the already-rising number of cases in Iraq. Returning to Rome on 8 March Pope Francis told re- porters that the pandemic, more than security concerns, had made him question whether to make the trip, but that it had beenworth the risk. “I thought so much, prayed so much” about the Iraq trip because of the coronavirus pandemic, he said, “and in the end I made the decision free- ly, but it came fromwithin. “And I said to myself the one who helped me decide this will take care of the peo- ple.” Father Lenard Ina, chaplain to the Syriac Catholic Church in Sydney and Canberra, said that “Easter came early to Quaraqosh” where he saw friends and former parishion- ers of his overwhelmed with joy upon the Pope’s arrival. “I would love to have been there,” Fr Ina said. “Everyone in Iraq has been waiting for a sign of hope in the future, and Pope Francis has brought that hope. “I believe he truly fol- lowed Jesus Christ there and through many things he did showed how people can live together in this world, with humility and in serving one another.” INTO A WARZONE P14 NEW