{"id":14119,"date":"2016-04-01T10:18:27","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T10:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.acnmalta.org\/?p=14119"},"modified":"2016-04-01T10:18:27","modified_gmt":"2016-04-01T10:18:27","slug":"pope-reaches-out-to-bomb-blast-victims-john-pontifex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acnmalta.org\/_oldsite\/2016\/04\/01\/pope-reaches-out-to-bomb-blast-victims-john-pontifex\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope reaches out to bomb blast victims &#8211; John Pontifex"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\"><\/style><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14121\" src=\"http:\/\/www.acnmalta.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Archbishop-Shaw-small-2.jpg\" alt=\"Pakistan, 2016 Archbishop Sebastian Shaw during his visit to Sheikh Zaid Hospital and Jinnah Hospital. He and his team visited both Christian and Muslim victims of the bomb blast in Pakistan over Easter . More than 300 people were injured and 72 people were killed by during the attack on Easter Sunday in Lahore.\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Archibishop Shaw brings Pope&#8217;s message to bombing victims in hospital<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Victims of the Easter Sunday Pakistan bomb blast recovering in hospital have received a personal message of sympathy from the Pope. \u00a0Archbishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore described how he was going from bed to bed visiting the wounded when he received a call on his mobile phone from Vatican officials saying that they had received a message from Pope Francis who was anxious to send a greeting to those wounded and grieving. The Pope\u2019s message echoed Francis\u2019 comments on Easter Monday (28<sup>th<\/sup> March) in Rome where he told the crowds of his \u201ccloseness to those affected by this cowardly and senseless crime\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, the Catholic charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, Archbishop Shaw spoke of his \u201cdelight\u201d to receive the phone call about the Pope\u2019s message, which was conveyed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Archbishop Shaw said: \u201cThere were so many wounded and others we wanted to see and I was getting very tired. Then I suddenly got this phone call from the nunciature [Vatican diplomatic office] in Islamabad [the Pakistan capital]. I was told that the Secretary of State had phoned the nunciature to say that the Holy Father is praying for the people who are suffering and that he personally wanted to send them his good wishes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added \u201cI have to say it was a very timely call. There were more than 100 people I was visiting and they were so pleased to know that the Pope had them in mind \u2013 not just the Christians but the Muslims too. Many Muslims were also victims of the blast.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reflecting on his visits to the wounded in Lahore\u2019s Sheikh Zaid and Jinnah Hospitals, Archbishop Shaw said: \u201cIt was very, very difficult to console them. We had no words to offer them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He described one family including a woman who had lost her husband and a child in the blast and whose other children, aged four and six, had been badly injured. Archbishop Shaw said: \u201cThe woman herself was injured and she was not able to take part in the funerals of her husband and child.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The archbishop, a Franciscan, also stated: \u201cOne mother lost her two children and husband.\u201c She was a guest and came to Lahore from Sanghar [in Sindh, the neighbouring province to Punjab, whose capital is Lahore].\u201d \u201cThe mother will go back to her home without her husband and children. [There are] no words to console her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u201cIn this depressing and traumatic situation we are still preaching and consoling our faithful with the words of Jesus after the Resurrection: \u2018Peace be with you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said that 20 funerals had taken place in the Lahore archdiocese on Monday (28<sup>th<\/sup> March).\u00a0The funeral of two siblings, Sulan Arif, 15, and her 14-year-old sister, Arooj, took place on Wednesday \u00a0(30<sup>th<\/sup> March) at Lahore\u2019s Sacred Heart Cathedral, with Archbishop Shaw presiding.<\/p>\n<p>The archbishop had asked ACN to prepare a consolation message to be read out at this and other funerals. The message, sent by ACN\u2019s UK national office in Sutton, Surrey,pledges prayers and states: \u201cPlease be assured of the compassion and love of your friends from ACN all around the world, not least here in the UK.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMay the message ring out in your hearts: \u2018You are not alone; we are here from countries all over the world to ensure that you will never be left to suffer alone.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe mourn with you; we share in your loss.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thanking ACN for this and other messages, Archbishop Shaw stated: \u201cWe need your prayers so that we may continue the mission our risen Lord Jesus had given us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pakistan is a priority country for Aid to the Church in Need, which supports victims of persecution as well as Mass stipends for priests, support for Sisters, training for seminarians, catechesis and other Christian education including Child\u2019s Bibles, Catholic media and evangelisation work and construction of churches.<\/p>\n<p><strong>John Pontifax<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Archibishop Shaw brings Pope&#8217;s message to bombing victims in hospital Victims of the Easter Sunday Pakistan bomb blast recovering in hospital have received a personal message of sympathy from the Pope. \u00a0Archbishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore described how he was going from bed to bed visiting the wounded when he received a call on his&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - 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