HOLY LAND: PATRIARCH TWAL APPOINTED THE FIRST TWO IRAQI MEMBERS OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE

“Let us pray for Iraq, for its inhabitants, for its religions. Let us pray for peace and security in Iraq and in the entire Middle East”, said the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, appointing Akram Faraj Hermez Karim and her wife, Bernadette Tuma, as Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. They are the first Iraqi members of the Order. The ceremony, broadcast live, took place on 14 March last in Amman, but the Latin Patriarchate released the news only today. In his speech of investiture for the bestowal of the sword, the patriarch praised the involvement of the two new members in the Church and in the preparations for Benedict XVI’s visit to the Holy Land in May 2009. He said: “this sword is neither for battle nor for war, but for justice and love among peoples”. “The new Knights, for their part, dedicated their title to the Iraqi and Jordanian peoples expressing hopes for a future of peace and prosperity in the whole Middle East. At the end of the ceremony, patriarch Twal received a phone call from cardinal Mar Emmanuel III Delly, Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad, who thanked him for the bestowal of this title considered as “an award conferred on the whole Chaldean Church”.

© SIR - 19 marzo 2010