As the Iran war continues to escalate with deeper suffering for civilians, the Cardinal Archbishop of Tehran expresses his hopes that our new life in Christ will encourage Iranian Christians to endure the trials of the present.<\/p>\n
By Devin Watkins<\/p>\n
Cardinal Dominique Joseph Mathieu, Archbishop of the Latin Archdiocese of Tehran-Isfahan, joined Pope Leo XIV and many of his brother Cardinals at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica for the Easter celebrations.<\/p>\n
The Cardinal Archbishop announced on March 9 that he had fled to Rome along with the staff of the Italian embassy to Iran \u201cnot without regret and sorrow\u201d after the outbreak of the Iran war.<\/p>\n
After celebrating Easter in Rome, Cardinal Mathieu wrote a message to the faithful of his diocese, which includes all of Iran\u2019s Latin rite Catholics, to assure them of his spiritual closeness.<\/p>\n
In his message, published on Easter Monday by the Vatican\u2019s Fides news agency, the Cardinal said his Easter experience was marked by \u201cthe perception of the relativity of distance\u201d and the juxtaposition of closeness and remoteness.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find myself far from you, the flock entrusted to me, separated by the events of war, waiting to be able to find you again,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd yet, on the holy night, I celebrated the Easter Vigil carrying all of you in my heart: far from my flock, but, precisely for this reason, in a mysterious way, close to each one of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cardinal Mathieu said he stood beneath the dome of St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, \u201cunder the sign of the universal Church, in visible communion with the Successor of Peter and with the whole of catholicity.\u201d<\/p>\n
In that experience, the Cardinal said he realized that his physical distance from his flock offers him an opportunity to live remoteness as a bridge that unites all Christians in Christ.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the communion of the Saints and in the grace of the Sacraments, above all in the Eucharist, we are truly united, even when we cannot be so visibly,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat appears to the eyes as distance, in faith, becomes communion.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Easter Vigil marks the boundary from night and light, he reflected, calling it a night illuminated by the reflected light of Christ, like the moon, which recalls the Virgin Mary.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust as the moon reflects the light of the sun, so she points back to the source of all life: her Son, Jesus Christ, true God and true man,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Cardinal Mathieu recalled the transformation of the women who discovered Jesus\u2019 empty tomb, as they fled the memory of death and darkness filled with \u201choly fear that opens to faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Christians await the final resurrection, \u201cthis \u2018future\u2019 resurrection must be held together with the mystery already present: the resurrection at work in the life of the believer through grace,\u201d said the Cardinal. \u201cIn the Risen Christ, the new life has already begun, even if it still passes through trial.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cardinal Mathieu expressed his heartfelt closeness to the Latin rite Catholics of Iran, as they look forward to the day when they may once again enjoy physical closeness.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Christ, living and risen, closeness and remoteness are transfigured,\u201d concluded the Cardinal Archbishop of Tehran. \u201cOnly He remains, who unites us, keeps us, and guides us, until we may once again be gathered as one flock under one Shepherd.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Iran war continues to escalate with deeper suffering for civilians, the Cardinal Archbishop of Tehran expresses…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[17471,34,69,36],"class_list":["post-55373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tehran","tag-easter","tag-iran","tag-tehran","tag-war"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116362555132207125","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}