Argentine priest in railway accident attributes life to Eucharist

April 21, 2017 CNA Daily News News Briefs 0 Print

Mendoza, Argentina, Apr 21, 2017 / 12:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Holy Thursday Father Alejandro Béjar, a priest of the Archdiocese of Mendoza, narrowly escaped being killed by a train. He attributes his survival to consecrated Hosts he was transporting on his way to visit the sick.

The April 13 incident took place at a railroad crossing in San Roque as Fr. Béjar was on his way to visit several sick persons, in addition to saying three Masses in the communities under his care.

Fr. Béjar, 50, told CNA that he crossed the railroad tracks that day for lack of a signal and got trapped. He explained he did not see the rails because of some bushes, and that there was no railroad crossing barrier.

Trapped on the tracks he could hear the train's horn, and saw the train appear, coming around a curve.

Within seconds, he tried moving his car. He was unable to, so he quickly unfastened his seat belt and ran from the car.

His Ford Escort was struck, and dragged some 80 feet by the train, which was unable to brake in time. The vehicle was destroyed but the priest could not get over his astonishment that the bag holding the consecrated Hosts on the front passenger seat was undamaged and remained in place.

“That's strange because in the back of the car there was a bag of fine flour I was taking for the community where I was going to celebrate Mass. That bag opened up and (the flour) spread all over, but the bag (with the Hosts) didn't even move,” he said.

Fr. Béjar said he was ashamed he did not take with him the consecrated Hosts when he abandoned the vehicle, but he thanked God for saving him from the onslaught of the train.

“I thank God because I was calm and didn't despair. It was a sign from God that he was present at that moment and helped me have those reflexes to stay calm and not give up hope,” he said.

The priest was unable to get the first Mass on his schedule for that day.

Fr. Béjar noted that eight years ago two women died in similar circumstances, and so he hopes the authorities will clean up the area from bushes and put up appropriate railroad crossing signage.

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Bishop appointed for Canada’s Chaldean eparchy

October 31, 2017 CNA Daily News 2

Toronto, Canada, Oct 31, 2017 / 12:17 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop Bawai Soro was on Tuesday appointed Bishop of the Chaldean Eparchy of Mar Addai of Toronto, which serves Canada’s estimated 40,000 Chaldean Catholics.

The Oct. 31 appointment fills the vacancy left by August’s transfer of Bishop Emmanuel Shaleta to the Chaldean Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle of San Diego.

Bishop Soro was born in 1954 in Kirkuk, Iraq, and was baptized into the Assyrian Church of the East, a non-Chalcedonian Church based in northen Iraq. His family emigrated to Lebanon in 1973, and then to the US in 1976.

He was ordained a deacon in the Assyrian Church of the East in 1973, a priest in 1982, and a bishop in 1984. Whila a priest he served as pastor of a parish in Toronto, and was bishop of the Assyrian eparchies of San José and Seattle.

He obtained a master’s degree in theology from the Catholic University of America in 1992, and a doctorate from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in 2002. While a bishop, he was actively involved in ecumenical dialogue between the Assyrian Church of the East and the Catholic Church.

Bishop Soro was received into communion with the Catholic Church in 2008, along with nearly 1,000 families of his Church.

He was received into the Chaldean Catholic Church, which is the Catholic analogue to the Assyrian Church of the East. Both Churches use the East Syrian rite. They are both derived from the Church of the East, a non-Chalcedonian Church which experienced a schism in 1552.

In 2014 he was appointed protosyncellus, or vicar general, of the Chaldean Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle of San Diego.

Bishop Soro has been outspoken about the persecution of Christians in his native Iraq, and has applauded their perseverance.

In June, he told CNA that “the story of suffering of Iraqi Christians is an ongoing phenomenon.” He reflected on his family’s perseverance in the face of the Ottoman’s Assyrian genocide, saying that “if my grandparents survived this difficulty and were able to hand their faith to the next generations, this suffering generation will do the same.”

The Chaldean Eparchy of Mar Addai of Toronto was established in 2011. It consists of 10 parishes and missions, and is served by 10 priests and two deacons.

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