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New Chaldean patriarch enthroned in Iraq
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's Chaldean Catholic
Church enthroned a new patriarch during a ceremonial mass Wednesday
that was held amid tight security in Baghdad.
The mass at St. Joseph's Chaldean church in
downtown Baghdad marked the final step as Louis Sako, 64, replaced Emmanuel III
Delly, who has retired.
Iraqi troops sealed off all roads leading to the church in the middle-class
neighborhood of Karradah and worshippers were searched by security forces before
going in.
Last month, bishops of the Eastern rite
church chose Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk since 2003, as their patriarch and
later, Pope Benedict
XVI approved the election.
Sako was ordained in 1974, earned two doctorates in Rome and Paris in the
1980s and then returned to Iraq. He has written books on church fathers. He
speaks Arabic, Chaldean, French, English and Italian.
Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, Iraqi Christians have suffered repeated
violence by Islamic militants and hundreds of thousands have fled the
country.
The most recent Iraq census in 1978 said
there were 1.4 million Christians in the country, but the number dropped
significantly to only several hundred thousand following the invasion. The vast
majority of Iraqi
Catholics are Chaldean with a small Assyrian Catholic minority.
During Wednesday's ceremony, Sako said he
will push for dialogue with Muslim clerics, both Sunnis and Shiites, to ensure
co-existence and cooperation in Iraq.
"I will work along with my Muslim brothers in order to provide our country
with a better future," he said.
Senior Iraq officials, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Sunni
parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi attended the ceremony.
Al-Maliki reiterated calls for Christians who are still living in Iraq not to
leave the country and be part of the efforts to build the new Iraq. He accused
al-Qaida for being behind the attacks that targeted the Christians over the past
ten years.
"I urge my Christian brothers not to emigrate from the country," he said. "We
are saddened to see Christians leave because of the threats from a depraved
group."
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Associated Press/ Karim Kadim - Priests bless Louis Sako, 64, the new
patriarch of Iraq's Chaldean Catholic Church at St. Joseph's Church in central
Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, March 6, 2013. Iraq's Chaldean …[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Catholic Church enthroned a new patriarch during a ceremonial
mass Wednesday that was held amid tight security in Baghdad. (AP Photo/ Karim
Kadim) less
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's Chaldean Catholic
Church enthroned a new patriarch during a ceremonial mass Wednesday
that was held amid tight security in Baghdad.
The mass at St. Joseph's Chaldean church in
downtown Baghdad marked the final step as Louis Sako, 64, replaced Emmanuel III
Delly, who has retired.
Iraqi troops sealed off all roads leading to the church in the middle-class
neighborhood of Karradah and worshippers were searched by security forces before
going in.
Last month, bishops of the Eastern rite
church chose Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk since 2003, as their patriarch and
later, Pope Benedict
XVI approved the election.
Sako was ordained in 1974, earned two doctorates in Rome and Paris in the
1980s and then returned to Iraq. He has written books on church fathers. He
speaks Arabic, Chaldean, French, English and Italian.
Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, Iraqi Christians have suffered repeated
violence by Islamic militants and hundreds of thousands have fled the
country.
The most recent Iraq census in 1978 said
there were 1.4 million Christians in the country, but the number dropped
significantly to only several hundred thousand following the invasion. The vast
majority of Iraqi
Catholics are Chaldean with a small Assyrian Catholic minority.
During Wednesday's ceremony, Sako said he
will push for dialogue with Muslim clerics, both Sunnis and Shiites, to ensure
co-existence and cooperation in Iraq.
"I will work along with my Muslim brothers in order to provide our country
with a better future," he said.
Senior Iraq officials, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Sunni
parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi attended the ceremony.
Al-Maliki reiterated calls for Christians who are still living in Iraq not to
leave the country and be part of the efforts to build the new Iraq. He accused
al-Qaida for being behind the attacks that targeted the Christians over the past
ten years.
"I urge my Christian brothers not to emigrate from the country," he said. "We
are saddened to see Christians leave because of the threats from a depraved
group."
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