Priest recounts raid on bin Laden’s compound
May 04, 2011
Father Akram Javed Gill, who ministers to the small Catholic community in Abbottabad, the city of 120,000 that was the site of Osama bin Laden’s compound, recounted the raid in which the al Qaida founder was killed.
“We never saw helicopters flying so low,” the priest told the Asian Catholic news agency UCA News. “Nobody knew what was going on, and we thought it was a military exercise at first.”
“I couldn’t conduct pastoral visits to homes yesterday after security increased,” he added. ”A healing prayer service scheduled today and upcoming Church feasts were cancelled. Also the four policemen posted guard for the church have been put on high alert.”
Father Gill also recounted incidents of persecution, including a request by local police to burn pamphlets on devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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Posted by: bkmajer3729 -
May. 04, 2011 11:00 PM ET USA
These are difficult and dark times. Please continue to pray that God's grace and strength will prevail through the Mass and sacraments. The job of our military is dangerous and difficult. The price of freedom is high. We as Catholics should clearly understand how high a price was and is paid. Please resist the temptation to judge our military actions without knowing all the pertinent information.
