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Eparch's
Message
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Dearly beloved in Christ:
On Tuesday, September 11th, our nation suffered an immense tragedy that has
touched the lives and hearts of men and women of good will throughout the entire
world. As a community, we add our prayerful condolences to the families
and friends of the victims of the calamity that befell our nation during the
unprecedented attack on the innocent people at work in the World Trade Center in
New York and the Pentagon Building in Washington.
In responding to the Holy Father's message of sympathy and encouragement to the
people of this land, the Catholic bishops of the USA repeated the Gospel theme
that Pope John Paul II has proclaimed to the world throughout his pontificate:
that peace and justice can only be found by embracing the God-given dignity and
worth of every human being.
As a Church with a rich history and with roots in the Middle East, we would want
everyone to know that the members of our eparchy are a people of faith. Neither
Christianity nor Islam condones violence and terrorism. Many of our people
have suffered greatly from individual, group and state terrorism for the past
fifty-four years. Many of our families immigrated to this great land over
a century ago to escape religious and political persecution and to seek freedom
and prosperity in "the Land of the Free."
As an integral part of the fabric of this land, we join in solidarity with our
President and government leaders who bear the tremendous responsibility of
dealing with the aftermath of these tragic events. They are in our daily
prayers. We commend the departed to the mercy of God.
We encourage our faithful to contribute their time, prayers and resources to
whatever local agencies or efforts are available to assist the many innocent
victims. We pray that our friends and neighbors will resist hatred and
vengeance and instead seek the roads to peace that are based on true justice for
all.
In the coming days, we will seek to find ways that we can participate as a
community in a meaningful way in the efforts to assist our neighbors and work
towards a lasting and just peace for all.
With heartfelt sentiments and my prayers, I remain,
Yours in the crucified and victorious Lord,
+John A. Elya
Eparch of Newton
