Iraqi Prelate speaks on the meaning of suffering at IEC2012

June 16, 2012: Building on the theme of “Communion in Suffering and Healing,” Archbishop Bashar Warda, the Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil in Iraq, delivered a catechesis to participants at the 50^th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, Ireland.

Speaking on Suffering as a Means of Communion, the Iraqi archbishop focused on the various types of suffering that afflict people today, such as those engaging the body, the mind and the soul. “When I speak here about this subject, I have in mind the suffering of persecuted or exploited communities, or the personal suffering of sick, poor and old people,” he said.

“Suffering is always degenerating and devastating the human dimension in people. But, when we speak about ‘human suffering,’ then always the suffering of Our Lord Jesus Christ is implicated,” he said. “His broken body is, and remains present in the mystery of the broken bread, as a source from which flows love, creating bonds of community.”

Archbishop Warda also spoke on the Eucharistic dimension of suffering in the Gospel, saying that the Eucharist, and the Church itself is built upon the cross of Christ. “Even hanging on the cross, he tries to create communion: this is your son and she is your mother,” he added.