Evacuated Archbishop of Tehran sends Easter message to Catholics in Iran

(LifeSiteNews) — The Archbishop of Tehran–Isfahan has sent an Easter message to Catholics in Iran, expressing his hope to be reunited with them soon after being evacuated amid the ongoing conflict with the U.S.

Cardinal Dominique Mathieu, who was evacuated to Rome as the hostilities broke out, penned an Easter message to his flock in the war-torn country. An English translation of the letter was published by Vatican journalist Diane Montagna.

“I am far from you, the flock entrusted to me, separated by the events of war, waiting for the day we can be together again,” the Belgian bishop wrote. “Yet, on the holy night, I celebrated the Easter Vigil carrying all of you in my heart: physically distant from my flock, yet, precisely for this reason, mysteriously close to each one of you.”

Mathieu was evacuated from Tehran to Rome on March 8, following target air strikes by Israel and the U.S. in late February.

“I found myself celebrating, so to speak, beneath the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, in the sign of the universal Church, in visible communion with the Successor of Peter and with the entire Catholic world,” he said in his letter.

“Close to the Shepherd of the Church, yet far from the flock the Lord has entrusted to me. But it is precisely this circumstance that allows me to learn to experience distance not as an impassable separation, but as a bridge that draws us near in Christ.”

“We celebrate the Easter Vigil after the sun sets on Saturday, when, according to biblical tradition, the new day begins: a threshold between night and light,” he continued. “It is a night illuminated by reflected light, like the moon, which calls to mind the Virgin Mary. Just as the moon reflects the sun’s light, so she points to the source of all life: her Son, Jesus Christ, true God and true man.”

The bishop then offered a reflection on the Easter feast, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“He, the conqueror of death, takes the initiative and sends them forth: ‘Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me,’” Mathieu stated.

“Galilee is the place of beginnings, of calling, of lived, everyday life: it is there that the Risen One waits for His own.”

“Dear friends, there is a ‘Galilee’ for us as well: it will be the day when, if God wills, we can be reunited,” the archbishop wrote. “But even now, beneath this dome that symbolizes the unity of the Church, and while I am far from you, I know that in Christ we are truly one.”

“In Christ, alive and risen, closeness and distance are transfigured. Only He remains, who unites us, guards us, and guides us – until the day we are once again gathered as one flock under one Shepherd,” he concluded.

Iran is home to about 22,000 Catholics, most of them Chaldean Catholics, with some communities of Armenian and Latin Catholics.