IRAQ: MGR. NONA NEW ARCHBISHOP OF MOSUL. THE ORDINATION THIS MORNING

This morning the monastery of Dair al Sayida, at Alqosh, hosted the ceremony for the ordination of the new Chaldean bishop of Mosul, mgr. Shimoun Nona. The consecration took place through the hands of the Chaldean Patriarch, card. Emmanuel III Delly, before many devotees, the country’s bishops and the apostolic nuncio to Iraq and Jordan, mgr. Francis Assisi Chullikat. To make sure the ceremony would not be disrupted, the police implemented strict security measures. “I feel great joy – stated to SIR the new bishop, who replaces mgr. Paulos F. Rahho, who was abducted and found dead in 2008 –, the Lord chose me to serve Him in His church but I am also aware that the mission that looms ahead will not be easy. For a long time now, the diocese of Mosul has been going trough a difficult time. We have hard work ahead of us”. Mgr. Nona recalled that “violence destroyed many facilities in the archdiocese, the churches and cathedrals have been damaged. There are neighbourhoods, which used to be full of Christian families, that are now empty. We will try – he concluded – to rebuild everything, materially and spiritually. It will be important to continue dialogue with our Muslim brothers and maintain the good relations which do exist among people. That’s the only way to defuse such sectarian, fundamentalist violence”.

© SIR - 28 may 2010