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Christians pray for Parramatta shooting dead

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Christians gathered to pray after the fatal Police Headquarters shooting at Parramatta. Photo: Giovanni Portelli

An ecumenical group of young Christian men prayed the Rosary outside Parramatta police headquarters on Thursday, the site of the shooting death of police accountant Curtis Cheng and his killer, the radicalised 15-year-old Farhad Jabar, who was shot by police.

Brothers United in Christ (BUC), a group made up of Maronite, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians, wanted to pray for the souls of the deceased and their families, organising the Rosary the night before.

BUC co-founder Simon Khouri, 29, said the group started as a response to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East around a year-and-a-half ago, praying for the persecuted of that region as well as the safety of Australia.

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He said the pain caused by the loss of life on 2 October was “dear to my heart” and that the men believed they needed to “be strong in our prayer”.

“We wanted to offer it up for the families of the people who were affected by it – Curtis and his family, and the younger fellow and his family as well,” Mr Khouri said.

BUC organised a Rosary last year at the site of the Lindt Café siege, attracting 120 people.

The group is also involved in charitable works, helping to install water purifiers in orphanages in Burma this year.

Greystanes assistant priest Fr Suresh Kumar led the Rosary and the men were joined by their sister-in-Christ, Vanessa Harb.

Mr Cheng’s funeral will be at St Mary’s Cathedral on Saturday, 17 October, at 10am.

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