Western Sydney couple Danny and Leila Abdallah were invited by the Pope to share their harrowing story with thousands of parishioners at the 2022 World Meeting of Families in Rome on Saturday.
Their three children Sienna, 8, Angelina, 12, Antony, 13, and niece Veronique Sakr, 11, were killed by Samuel William Davidson who was drunk and high on drugs while behind the wheel in Oatlands on February 1, 2020.
Flanked by their children Liana, 12, Alex, seven, Michael, six, and 14-week-old Selina, the Abdallahs spoke to a global audience on the eve of would have been Antony’s 16th birthday.
Ms Abdallah recalled the heartbreaking moment she learned her children had been killed as her husband explained why they’ve chosen to forgiven the driver through the I4Give campaign the family has set up.
Their speech was so powerful it brought the Catholic world to their feet, including a contingent of Australians in the crowd at the Vatican proudly holding the national flag.
Bishops around the world were so moved by their story that the Abdallahs may also get a face to face meeting with the Pope himself, depending on his health.
The Abdallah family today
‘There’s been more than two years and I must choose to forgive myself and the driver every day, to not retreat into hatred,’ Mr Abdallah told the Vatican and millions watching online.
‘I choose to forgive myself for telling my kids to go for walk. I choose to forgive the offender in obedience to my Father in heaven.
‘If my children were here today, they would say ‘Dad, forgive him.’
‘When you forgive the other person, you start to heal.’
His wife Leila added: ‘I would not have imagined we would be in the Vatican on the eve of my son’s birthday to speak about forgiveness to the world.’
Ms Abdallah received an overwhelming round of applause after revealing she didn’t hate the driver and had forgiven him.
‘As Christians, we’re meant to forgive,’ she said.
‘I believe the Holy Spirit has moved my lips to forgive in that moment.’
‘You can’t control what happens in life, but you can choose how to respond. We choose forgiveness over hatred, we choose love over revenge and we choose to turn the day of tragedy into a day of forgiveness.
‘Forgiveness is the core message of our Christianity. All our prayer is about forgiveness. And when we pray the Lord’s Prayer we say, ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.’ And these are words to be taken seriously.’
Read the whole story here.
DCG
