‘We will not give in to injustice’: Iraqi, Syrian prelates issue Christmas letters
December 24, 2015
The head of the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Melkite Greek Catholic archbishop of Syria’s largest city have issued Christmas letters.
“The feast of the birth of Christ is one of the greatest feasts celebrated by millions of Christians around the world and particularly in Iraq,” said Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako. “But this year Iraqi Christians will celebrate Christmas in deplorable circumstances, one the one hand because of the deteriorating condition of the situation of our country at all levels, and, on the other hand, because of what they have gone through as Christians, victims of segregation and exclusion.”
“On this occasion, we want to be very frank again: we will not give in to injustice,” he added. “On the contrary, we will remain attached to our land, and to our patriotism and we will continue to show love for our fellow citizens, simply because they are our brothers and sisters.”
Archbishop Jean-Clément Jeanbart of Aleppo, Syria, wrote:
Here we are, for a fifth year now, celebrating the Feast of the Nativity as bombs are raining down. I do not know how many of you have lived through such a depressing and sad experience, but I can assure you it is painful these beautiful days, so ardently awaited each year, amidst shortages and lack of security, or electricity and, to top things off, cut off from the rest of the world by a strict and very tight boycott …
May Almighty God have pity on all of us and he may cause friendship to reign among men, mercy in our hearts and peace among all the peoples on earth.
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