Funeral Mass of Cardinal Daoud held in Vatican Basilica

(April 11, 2012) The funeral Mass of Syrian-born Cardinal Ignace Moussa Daoud, who died on Saturday was held in St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday evening. The Latin-rite Mass of the 81-year-old cardinal, the former patriarch of the Syrian Catholic Church and the retired prefect of Vatican’s Congregation for Eastern Churches was led by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals. In his homily, Cardinal Sodano said he had visited the ailing patriarch a few days before he died in a Rome Hospital and Cardinal Daoud told him “he was offering to the Lord his suffering for the good of the holy church and above all for the unity of all Christians.” The prelate’s body was to be flown to Beirut for a Syriac-rite burial with the other patriarchs of Antioch. In a condolence message sent earlier to Syriac Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan of Antioch, Pope Benedict XVI had called the cardinal a faithful pastor, who devoted himself with faith and generosity to the service of the people of God.
There are about 132,000 faithful in the Syrian Catholic Church, according to the Catholic Near East Welfare Association. The largest populations of Syrian Catholics are in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.