Victims of Paris Attacks Remembered In the Archdiocese

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Victims of the terrorist attacks on Paris were remembered at a French-language Mass at Holy Family Church near the United Nations Nov. 17.

Father Gerald E. Murray, pastor of Holy Family, served as principal celebrant at the regularly scheduled 1:10 p.m. liturgy. Concelebrating were three priests from Notre Dame parish in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan: Msgr. John Paddack, pastor; Father Michael Holleran, parochial vicar, and Father Louis Ardillier, F.J.

In his homily, which he delivered in French, Father Murray underscored “how New York is united with Paris in this moment of sorrow.”

Among others, Father Murray quoted the messages and statements of Pope Francis and Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois of Paris about the attacks, and Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, citing the just war theory, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s teaching on just war.

“In my words,” said Father Murray, who served as a reserve U.S. Navy chaplain for more than a decade, “it’s a duty of charity to protect the innocent.”

Msgr. Paddack, who also serves as dean of West Manhattan, read a letter to the French community from Cardinal Dolan, who at the time of the Mass at Holy Family Church was attending the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ meeting in Baltimore.

In a later interview with CNY, Msgr. Paddack said the 10 a.m. French-language Mass at his parish on Nov. 15, the Sunday following the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, drew more than 500 and included diplomats. The church, he added, holds approximately 350.

The Tuesday afternoon Mass at Holy Family, located at 315 E. 47th St., drew a congregation of approximately 150, according to Father Murray. One attendee solemnly carried in a French flag where it remained respectfully draped in her pew throughout the Mass.

Among the congregants was Bertrand Lortholary, Consul General of France.

It is “our entire country that mourns,” he said in a statement. “In these times of sorrow, the people of New York have shown extreme kindness, emphasizing more than ever the bonds of friendship between our two countries.

“From Mayor de Blasio to the numerous New Yorkers joining in to express their compassion during the gatherings at Washington Square Park and the 9/11 memorial, we have received countless testimonies of support and sympathy,” he added.

“On behalf of the French community in New York, I want to say how touched we are by these marks of solidarity.”

Also among the congregants was Pascale Richard, a parishioner of Holy Family who also serves as director of culture events at the Lycée Francais de New York, a French school for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Ms. Richard, who is from Paris, has resided in New York for 15 years. “Being here is most important,” she said of the Mass. “It was important to share this moment in French, because the French language is something we share.”

“We all know friends of friends who have lost family,” she added.

Father Ardillier, who is from France, said assembling in prayer provides the community help and hope. “We’re family because we’re French,” he said, “so we need to feel it.”

It is important, he said, to also pray for the terrorists, whom he described as “lost souls,” whose minds have been “destroyed by this ideology.”

“If we don’t answer with love, by loving them and forgiving them, it’s not worth praying…It’s what we say in the ‘Our Father,’ of course,” he added, referring to the passage “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Father Murray thanked all the English-speaking friends and parishioners who attended the Mass and asked them to “join in prayer for the people of France.”

He encouraged attendees to go to the website of the Consulate General of France in New York where a book of condolence is available to sign online.