Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church attending mass in Baghdad on April 12, 2024. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Returning to Baghdad for the first time nine months after he quit the capital amid a dispute with the government, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, on Friday called on Iraq’s Christian community to have patience and to be politically active.
“My message for Christians is to be patient and steadfast. They should be active, not dependent, wanting everything from above,” Sako told Rudaw’s Anmar Ghazi after celebrating mass in Baghdad’s Mar Yousef Chaldean Cathedral.
“They must demand their rights and have a role and presence in the political process, as no one will give them their rights on a silver or gold platter,” he added.
Sako returned to Baghdad on Wednesday night where he was received by officials from the Chaldean Patriarchate.
On Thursday he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani who “expressed his pleasure at the Patriarch's return to Baghdad and emphasized the importance of his presence and role, affirming the government's commitment to fostering coexistence and brotherhood among all segments of Iraqi society,” according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
Christians in Baghdad are hopeful that the meeting between the patriarch and the prime minister signals a new beginning for the beleaguered minority community.
“The prime minister’s gesture to resolve the crisis represents a new hope and a strong restoration of the position of the Church and Christians in the Iraqi mosaic,” said Father Nadhir Dako, pastor at Mar Yousef Chaldean Cathedral.
Sako left Baghdad last July when he departed for the Kurdistan Region following a controversial decision by Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid to revoke a decree that formally recognizes the Chaldean patriarch and grants him powers over Christian endowment affairs. The presidency said the decision was made on constitutional grounds.
Prior to making the decision, Rashid had met with Rayan al-Kildani, leader of the nominally Christian Babylon Movement, a party and militia affiliated with the pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic).
“I do not understand why it was removed. Of course, he was under pressure from a so-called Christian militia that pressured him to isolate me so that I would implement their agenda and so they can remove the authority from the church in order to fully take control of Christian affairs,” Sako told Rudaw in October.
He argued that he was deliberately targeted and that other religious figures “of a lower ranking” have kept their decrees, while his was withdrawn.
On his decision to take refuge in Erbil, Sako justified it by saying that he came to the city “because I have churches and Christians here, whether in Ainkawa, Zakho, Amedi, Akre, Sulaimani, or elsewhere.”
Northern Iraq, particularly the Nineveh Plains, is an area with a historic Assyrian, Chaldean, and Syriac presence and home to many Christian towns and villages. The Christian inhabitants were driven out when the Islamic State (ISIS) attacked the area in 2014. Efforts to return since the terror group was ousted have largely floundered due to the presence of the Babylon Brigades in the area.
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