By Baghdadhope
The synod of the Chaldean church ended in Ankawa. The report of the Synod, signed by the Secretary of the Synod, Msgr. Jacques Isaac was published this morning on the website of the Chaldean Patriarchate.
According to the report the items discussed by the Synod were many.
The bishops called for unity within the Chaldean church as well as with its sister churches in Iraq and abroad in the ecumenical and pastoral fields, and for the overcoming of the pursuing of personal interests.
The bishops have been asked to consolidate good relations with Muslims and with all the other Iraqi constituents to make the country a haven of coexistence and cohesion.
Hope was expressed that peace and stability can return to reign in Iraq and that refugees can return to their homes.
The Synod expressed the request that in the new constitution of Kurdistan the Chaldean component can be included independently from the others as well as Article 125 of Iraqi constitution guarantees the administrative, political and cultural rights of different nationalities such as Turkmens, Chaldeans and Assyrians. The request is that an analogous article could be included in the constitution of Kurdistan in order to allow the Chaldeans to continue to contribute politically, culturally and socially to the birth of a prosperous, democratic and pluralistic Iraq.
Examining the situation of refugees and displaced Iraqi Christians the Synod thanked all the institutions that helped to alleviate their pains and stressed the importance of continuing to give them material and spiritual support and the hope that they can return to their homes and their businesses. The synod in this regard calls on the Iraqi government to facilitate this return also through a compensation policy that will strengthen the Christian presence in "our beloved country."
In the administrative field the Synod established the creation of a permanent patriarchal council composed of 4 bishops to support the work of the Patriarchate. The synod discussed also the situation of the Babel College, the only faculty of philosophy and Christian theology in Iraq, the Institute of Religious Sciences for the training of catechists and the formation and growth of the clergy in both Iraq and abroad.
The declaration of the synod contains no references to the names of the 4 bishops who will form the permanent patriarchal council nor, as for the canon laws, to the appointment of any other bishop that, if they were made, must overcome the Vatican iter for appropriate approvals. A necessary step given the situation of the diocese of Mosul, vacant since the death of the late Archbishop Faraj P. Rahho, and those of Erbil and Canada that still lack a titular bishop and are assigned by now respectively to the bishop of Amadhiya, Msgr. Rabban Al Qasr and to Msgr. Hanna Zora bishop emeritus of Awhaz (Iran).
It is too early to say what the developments of this synod will be. A synod that in any case marked a step forward compared to the previous one held in June 2007 which was characterized by the non-participation of a large group of bishops who in a statement sent to Asianews explained the reasons for their "boycott" justifiying it by a severe criticism of the Chaldean church hierarchy and the refuse of its Patriarch to postpone the synod itself to have more time to explore the themes of the agenda suggested by those same bishops. But that will be especially remembered as the one "burned" by the news published that led to a sort of "freezing" of the Synod decisions. A freezing that created tensions between the then two parties and that seem to have been dissolved by this joint declaration.
Certainly one of the issues addressed by the synod: the request for the inclusion of the Chaldean entity as separate from the others in the constitution of Kurdistan will not fail to arouse uproar among supporters of the common Assyrian Chaldean Syriac identity. To this decision could have had a part Msgr. Sarhard Y. Jammo, bishop of the Chaldean Eparchy of California who already in 2004 advocated the inclusion of the Chaldeans as a separate entity from the Assyrian one in the life in Iraq. Msgr. Jammo who just before the start of the synod attended, along with Msgr. Ibrahim Ibrahim, bishop of the Chaldean Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle in the eastern United States, a meeting of the Chaldean National Council the final declaration of which stressed the need to differentiate the Chaldean entity from the others.
On this regard Baghdadhope talked to Msgr. Shleimun Warduni who reiterated that "every ethnicity is dear to its members" and that for this reason, in the absence of a common name that can bring out at the same level the different entities that compose it, a diversification even in the official name is required.
Bishop Warduni also explained the duties of the patriarchal permanent council that will meet 2 or 3 times per year to study, together with the Patriarch who guides it, the various topics to address to the synod.
The bishops called for unity within the Chaldean church as well as with its sister churches in Iraq and abroad in the ecumenical and pastoral fields, and for the overcoming of the pursuing of personal interests.
The bishops have been asked to consolidate good relations with Muslims and with all the other Iraqi constituents to make the country a haven of coexistence and cohesion.
Hope was expressed that peace and stability can return to reign in Iraq and that refugees can return to their homes.
The Synod expressed the request that in the new constitution of Kurdistan the Chaldean component can be included independently from the others as well as Article 125 of Iraqi constitution guarantees the administrative, political and cultural rights of different nationalities such as Turkmens, Chaldeans and Assyrians. The request is that an analogous article could be included in the constitution of Kurdistan in order to allow the Chaldeans to continue to contribute politically, culturally and socially to the birth of a prosperous, democratic and pluralistic Iraq.
Examining the situation of refugees and displaced Iraqi Christians the Synod thanked all the institutions that helped to alleviate their pains and stressed the importance of continuing to give them material and spiritual support and the hope that they can return to their homes and their businesses. The synod in this regard calls on the Iraqi government to facilitate this return also through a compensation policy that will strengthen the Christian presence in "our beloved country."
In the administrative field the Synod established the creation of a permanent patriarchal council composed of 4 bishops to support the work of the Patriarchate. The synod discussed also the situation of the Babel College, the only faculty of philosophy and Christian theology in Iraq, the Institute of Religious Sciences for the training of catechists and the formation and growth of the clergy in both Iraq and abroad.
The declaration of the synod contains no references to the names of the 4 bishops who will form the permanent patriarchal council nor, as for the canon laws, to the appointment of any other bishop that, if they were made, must overcome the Vatican iter for appropriate approvals. A necessary step given the situation of the diocese of Mosul, vacant since the death of the late Archbishop Faraj P. Rahho, and those of Erbil and Canada that still lack a titular bishop and are assigned by now respectively to the bishop of Amadhiya, Msgr. Rabban Al Qasr and to Msgr. Hanna Zora bishop emeritus of Awhaz (Iran).
It is too early to say what the developments of this synod will be. A synod that in any case marked a step forward compared to the previous one held in June 2007 which was characterized by the non-participation of a large group of bishops who in a statement sent to Asianews explained the reasons for their "boycott" justifiying it by a severe criticism of the Chaldean church hierarchy and the refuse of its Patriarch to postpone the synod itself to have more time to explore the themes of the agenda suggested by those same bishops. But that will be especially remembered as the one "burned" by the news published that led to a sort of "freezing" of the Synod decisions. A freezing that created tensions between the then two parties and that seem to have been dissolved by this joint declaration.
Certainly one of the issues addressed by the synod: the request for the inclusion of the Chaldean entity as separate from the others in the constitution of Kurdistan will not fail to arouse uproar among supporters of the common Assyrian Chaldean Syriac identity. To this decision could have had a part Msgr. Sarhard Y. Jammo, bishop of the Chaldean Eparchy of California who already in 2004 advocated the inclusion of the Chaldeans as a separate entity from the Assyrian one in the life in Iraq. Msgr. Jammo who just before the start of the synod attended, along with Msgr. Ibrahim Ibrahim, bishop of the Chaldean Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle in the eastern United States, a meeting of the Chaldean National Council the final declaration of which stressed the need to differentiate the Chaldean entity from the others.
On this regard Baghdadhope talked to Msgr. Shleimun Warduni who reiterated that "every ethnicity is dear to its members" and that for this reason, in the absence of a common name that can bring out at the same level the different entities that compose it, a diversification even in the official name is required.
Bishop Warduni also explained the duties of the patriarchal permanent council that will meet 2 or 3 times per year to study, together with the Patriarch who guides it, the various topics to address to the synod.
Questioned on the course of the synod Msgr. Warduni stressed how on this occasion, albeit with the normal differences of opinion, the "grace of God guided us in a spirit of harmony for the good of the Church and the faithful."
