H.H. Patriarch Emmanuel speaks at Episcopal Synod

Today during the Thirteenth General Congregation of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome, several hierarchs spoke. Among them was H.H. Emmanuel III Delly, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans. He spoke about the continuing plight of the Chaldeans and other Christians in Iraq. Below I have given an excerpt of his speech. My heart goes out to these Christians. I cannot even imagine what it must be like to live in a land where the people look down on them in such a way. The persecution is so great over there, so much so that at the beginning of the Iraq War there were almost 1,000,000 Chaldeans. Whereas now, there are nearly 400,000. Many have either been killed or emigrated elsewhere.

Please keep these people in your prayers. Let us not let their blood letting be in vain. Pray for the conversion of their murderers and the conversion of the whole Middle East. Their Church has borne some great martyrs in the last few years, let us ask for their intercession. Holy hieromartyrs Faraj Rahho and Ragheed Ganni and his companions, pray for us to the Lord, Our God!

"I am a son of the land of Abraham, Iraq. ... We have tried everything to obtain peace and serenity for the country. The situation in some parts of Iraq is disastrous and tragic. Life is a Calvary: peace and security are lacking , just as the fundamental elements in daily life. Electricity, water, fuel continue to be lacking. ... All fear kidnapping, abduction and intimidation. ... Not to mention the ever growing number of deaths caused by car bombs and kamikazes wearing explosive belts. To live the Word of God means to us to bear witness to it to the cost of our own lives, as has occurred and still occurs till now with the sacrifice of the bishops, priests and faithful. ... Because of this, I beg of you to pray the Lord Jesus, the Word of God, for us and with us, and share our concern, our hopes and the suffering of our wounded, so that the Word of God made flesh stay in His Church and with us as a good news and as support. Sixteen of our priests and two bishops have been kidnapped and were released after paying a very high
ransom. Some of them belong to a line of new martyrs that today pray for us from the heavens: Archbishop Faraj Rahho of Mosul, Fr. Raghid Ganni, other two priests and other six young persons".

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