Iraq minorities, including Christians, still struggle 20 years after U.S.-led invasion

By Abouna.org - Il Sismografo blogspot

Dale Gavlak

April 23, 2023

Twenty years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq started and six years after Iraq declared victory over the Islamic State (ISIS), whose attacks started in 2014, the country's religious minorities are still trying to surmount challenges.

According to the U.N. International Office for Migration (IOM), more than 200,000 Yazidis who survived ISIS' brutality are still displaced, living in and outside camps across Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region. The Islamic State abducted thousands of women and girls as sex slaves and massacred thousands of men.

Christians in the Kurdistan region say that while they appreciate its relative stability and security, they feel apprehensive about the future because of the recent history of violence in Iraq that forced them to pull up roots.

"My family once lived in the capital, Baghdad, but with the church bombings and sectarian attacks on Christians and other minorities after the 2003 war, we had to move up north to Dohuk," an Iraqi Armenian man named Arsen told OSV News.

This Kurdish region also hosts Assyrians and other Christians, some of whom escaped IS, which attacked Mosul and the Nineveh Plains towns. In addition, camps for internally displaced Yazidis, who were targeted by IS militants for death, sexual slavery and forced labor, dot the area.

It is said that such camps are to be closed by the year's end, but many wonder where this will leave the Yazidis, who feel that their own government betrayed them by failing to protect them from Islamic State atrocities.

"How can camps be closed when thousands of families have been living there for a long time? It's like taking them to the streets. There needs to be a viable alternative," Fr. Emanuel Youkhana, a priest of the Assyrian Church of the East, told OSV News.

The Yazidis with whom OSV News spoke added that they cannot return to Sinjar, their ancestral land where many of them lived at the time of the IS attacks because their homes and businesses were destroyed.

"There is no security, or livelihood possibilities there. Instead, there are a variety of military forces in Sinjar: Whether it's the Kurdish PYD (Democratic Union Party), Yazidi unit fighters, the Iran-backed Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi militia, Iraqi army. There are also Turkish airstrikes and an open border to Syria. I share their fear with them for Sinjar," Father Youkhana said.

In March, the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed al-Sudani allocated $38.5 million to rebuild Sinjar and villages in the Nineveh Plains.

Fr. Youkhana runs the Christian Aid Program Northern Iraq (CAPNI) for displaced Iraqis around the city of Dohuk. This Catholic organization also rebuilds homes and helps to restore livelihoods in several towns in the Nineveh Plains following its destruction.

"We are motivated by our Christian values because we are a Christian faith-based organization and the basis of our work is love. In the case of Iraq, to share love means that you have to take care of people in need. And so, we address the needs of these vulnerable communities," he said.

CAPNI aids the displaced in more than 25 remote villages in the Duhok area by providing basic health checks and treating chronic diseases. It is also helping to repair damaged homes.

Over the past five years, CAPNI also has rehabilitated more than 1,450 houses, 32 schools, nine churches, and 200 shops in the Nineveh Plains towns. Now, it is focused in the next three years on encouraging sustainable development by providing livelihood opportunities to unemployed youth and vocational training for others.

"We are trying to help people have a stable and sustainable income," Father Youkhana said. The projects require funding of $3.3 million annually, but one challenge is funds as the war in Ukraine persists.

Microloans are available for those with business skills and a business plan either in agriculture, or in towns where there is a need for mobile phone maintenance, air-conditioning installation, car mechanics, to name a few enterprises. Grants also are available to female-headed households to start businesses often at home.

Father Youkhana pointed to a project where Yazidis are working in eight greenhouses provided by CAPNI where a variety of vegetables can be produced even out of season, including, for the first time, broccoli. "They are able to receive a better income as a result of the project," he said.

CAPNI also is engaged in peace-building and advocacy work for minorities in Iraq. "What happened from the Islamic State invasion cannot be forgotten. It should be addressed openly to learn from it, to avoid it ever happening," Father Youkhana said of the Dutch government funded project aiding those on the Nineveh Plains.

Iraqi Chaldean Catholic Church leaders, such as Cardinal Louis Sako, patriarch of Chaldean Catholics, and Archbishop Bashar Warda of Irbil have repeatedly urged authorities to protect and respect all of the Iraqi citizens.

On the recent Iraqi National Day for Tolerance March 6, adopted by the government to commemorate the historic visit of Pope Francis in 2021 to the country, Father Youkhana made high-level presentations, including to the Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, where he warned of the worrying trend of Iraq's religious and ethnic minorities leaving the country.

"Once Iraq loses its minorities, the majority is no more the majority," Father Youkhana said. "We will continue to advocate for as long as it takes."

Revising Iraq's schools curricula to remove prejudice and encourage respect for all of Iraq's rich ethnic and religious minorities, too, is part of CAPNI's work.

Cristiani in Medio Oriente. Card. Sako (patriarca): “Siano ascoltati e rispettati”

By  AgenSIR

Daniele Rocchi

22 aprile 2023

“Essere ascoltati e rispettati”: non ha dubbi il patriarca caldeo di Baghdad, il card. Louis Raphael Sako. Dieci anni dopo la promulgazione dell’Esortazione postsinodale Ecclesia in Medio Oriente (Emo), “i cristiani del Medio Oriente non possono essere considerati ‘cittadini di serie B’. Vanno aiutati a restare nei loro Paesi e non ad emigrare”.

A Nicosia (Cipro) dove si trova per partecipare al simposio sul decennale della Esortazione – firmata da Benedetto XVI ad Harissa (Libano) il 14 settembre del 2012 – il patriarca caldeo parla al Sir delle sfide, minacce e prospettive dei cristiani della regione.

Di cosa hanno bisogno oggi i cristiani del Medio Oriente, 10 anni dopo l’Esortazione?
Di essere ascoltati e rispettati. Siamo di fronte ad una realtà che ci pone davanti nuovi problemi e sfide. Bisogna pensare, di concerto con il Dicastero delle Chiese Orientali, a come aiutare i cristiani della regione a restare nelle loro terre, a sperare e testimoniare la fede cristiana. Questa è la nostra vocazione ma abbiamo bisogno di essere sempre più aiutati, ascoltati e accompagnati dalla Chiesa madre. Se i cristiani andranno via dal Medio Oriente le radici del Cristianesimo scompariranno. E questo è grave. Al Simposio ho proposto un incontro dei patriarchi dei Paesi dove i cristiani non vedono futuro. In Siria, in Iraq, in Palestina, in Libano ci sono sfide politiche, economiche, culturali e sociali che minano la presenza delle nostre comunità. La secolarizzazione sta svuotando l’Occidente di tutto ciò che è sacro. Qui in Oriente abbiamo il fondamentalismo che si trasforma in terrore e terrorismo. Siamo minacciati, marginalizzati, le nostre case, le nostre terre vengono occupate, così i nostri villaggi. E poi c’è la questione demografica.

Cristiani sempre più dentro un recinto?

I cristiani vanno via. Forse rimarrà la memoria, ma questa deve essere viva. Nel 2009 andai da Papa Benedetto XVI a chiedere che si facesse un Sinodo per il Medio Oriente. Siamo chiese piccole, non vediamo futuro. Un Sinodo per radunare tutte queste Chiese e prestare loro ascolto, dare speranza. L’Esortazione è molto bella ma oggi, dopo 10 anni viviamo in un altro mondo. La visita del Papa in Iraq, la sua presenza, la sua vicinanza, la sua amicizia con i musulmani, hanno prodotto molto di più che non l’Esortazione.

Basti pensare al documento di Abu Dhabi, o all’incontro, il 6 marzo 2021, a Najaf con il Grande Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Al-Husayni Al-Sistani, leader della comunità sciita nel Paese che pronunciò parole di amicizia e di fratellanza verso i cristiani. Ecco, bisogna sfruttare tutte queste cose per vivere da fratelli e da cittadini, per cambiare la mentalità della società che considera i musulmani superiori mentre gli altri sono trattati come cittadini di Serie B. I cristiani sono in Iraq secoli prima dei musulmani ma siamo una minoranza e abbiamo bisogno degli altri. Pensiamo anche al Libano dove i cristiani erano la maggioranza. Oggi tutti pensano a emigrare, quando invece i cristiani hanno tanto da dare ai loro Paesi.

La dichiarazione di Abu Dhabi, l’enciclica Fratelli tutti, forse non stanno producendo i frutti sperati?

Il dialogo con le autorità musulmane esiste ma bisogna implementarlo. La visita di delegazioni di vescovi, cardinali o di Paesi occidentali infonde tanta speranza ai cristiani locali. La mentalità orientale è tribale ma le comunità cristiane non la vivono. Siamo una Chiesa e abbiamo bisogno di vicinanza e di amicizia non solo a parole ma anche con i fatti. Ci sentiamo persi, smarriti, delusi. In Iraq eravamo un milione e mezzo, oggi siamo meno di un terzo, e domani saremo anche meno. Le nostre famiglie sono divise tra l’Iraq e l’Occidente.

Quali sono queste azioni, questi fatti che lei invoca necessari a invogliare i cristiani a restare e magari ad essere più partecipi della vita dei loro Paesi?

Come ho detto, innanzitutto, essere ascoltati e rispettati anche nella Chiesa. Noi viviamo questa realtà e ci fa male. I problemi si affrontano andando a vedere, a conoscere da vicino la nostra realtà, i giovani, le famiglie, i preti, i religiosi e religiose, e anche i Governi. Noi da soli non ce la facciamo. Si parla tanto di diritti umani e poi ci si dimentica che siamo esseri umani. Siamo cittadini che hanno stessi diritti e doveri dei musulmani. Ma questo oggi non esiste. Invece di formare Paesi democratici e civili hanno alzato le barriere. Serve separare la religione dallo Stato.

Crede che la ripresa di relazioni tra l’Arabia Saudita e l’Iran potrà mutare lo scenario geopolitico dell’area e anche della presenza cristiana?

Non credo molto, è una questione di interessi e di giochi politici che vede coinvolti gli Usa e tutto l’Occidente. La politica cambia e il Medio Oriente non nutre fiducia nella politica, soprattutto americana. Pensiamo a cosa è accaduto in Iraq o in Afghanistan, in Libano. Aggiungiamo anche che la guerra assurda tra Russia e Ucraina ha cambiato il mondo. Paghiamo una politica occidentale sbagliata.

“Da soli non ce la facciamo”, ha detto poco fa. Chi potrebbe aiutarvi in questo cammino di riconoscimento, la Chiesa ma anche la comunità internazionale, la diplomazia?

Un grosso aiuto deve arrivare dai nunzi apostolici che devono rappresentare presso i Governi le istanze della Chiesa e delle comunità cristiane perseguitate e maltrattate. Si tratta di una persecuzione discreta, non pubblica: per esempio un cristiano non può essere ministro, o ricoprire cariche apicali. Per non parlare di quando milizie penetrano nella tua casa e la occupano, minacciano di rapirti. Come definire tutto questo se non persecuzione? È importante allora che i nunzi conoscano la realtà, la cultura e perché no, anche la lingua, dei nostri Paesi. Si tratta di un punto di vista condiviso anche con gli altri patriarchi. Bisogna parlare se vogliamo cambiare le cose. Non ho paura a dialogare e a criticare con forza il Governo del mio Paese. La Chiesa deve avere una voce profetica come quella di Gesù e degli apostoli che hanno cambiato il mondo. Contiamo molto sulla Chiesa e sulla vicinanza che non può essere solo economica.

Irak : le président de la région du Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, reçu par le pape

By Zenit - Rudaw
Marina Droujinina

Le président du Kurdistan irakien, Nechirvan Barzani, a été reçu en audience privée par le pape François, ce jeudi 13 avril 2023, au Vatican, indique le Saint-Siège.

Premier ministre de la région autonome du nord de l’Irak de 2006 à 2009 et de 2012 à 2019 et président du gouvernement régional du Kurdistan depuis le 10 juin 2019, Nechirvan Barzani a déjà été reçu par le pape François en 2015 et 2018.

Rappelons que le pape François a visité Erbil, la capitale du Kurdistan irakien, lors de son voyage apostolique en Irak (5-8 mars 2021). « Aujourd’hui, je peux voir et toucher du doigt le fait que l’Église en Irak est vivante, que le Christ vit et œuvre dans ce peuple saint et fidèle qui est le sien », a affirmé le pape en célébrant la messe dans le stade d’Erbil, le 7 mars 2021.

Dans un communiqué officiel, publié par la Présidence de la région du Kurdistan ce jeudi 13 avril, on lit que le pape François « a salué la culture de coexistence pacifique et d’acceptation entre les communautés religieuses et ethniques, soulignant que cette culture doit être sauvegardée dans la région du Kurdistan et en Irak ». Le pape « a qualifié son dernier voyage en Irak et dans la région du Kurdistan de souvenir heureux ».

Au cours de l’audience, le président Barzani a présenté au pape « un aperçu de la situation dans la région du Kurdistan et en Irak, ainsi que le statut des communautés religieuses et ethniques dans le pays ».

Il a également « évoqué l’importance et l’impact de la visite du pape François en Irak et dans la région du Kurdistan » et a souligné que la région du Kurdistan « protège les droits et les libertés de toutes les communautés religieuses et ethniques, et restera un pays de coexistence pacifique et de tolérance pour tous ».

Photo par Rudaw

Photo par Rudaw

À la fin de son audience, le président Barzani a remis au pape François un tableau réalisé par un artiste kurde « qui illustre la coexistence entre les communautés religieuses et ethniques dans la région du Kurdistan ».

Rudaw Media Network indique qu’il s’agit d’une peinture de l’artiste kurde Khairy Adam, représentant des personnes des différentes ethnies et religions de la région du Kurdistan participant à la danse traditionnelle kurde de « Halparke ». L’arrière-plan du tableau représente une mosquée, un monastère et un temple yézidi, illustrant les relations fraternelles entre les différentes religions de la région du Kurdistan.

Un autre tableau intitulé « La colombe comme symbole du Saint-Esprit » de l’artiste Shanaz Jamal a également été offert au pape François. La peinture est faite à la main de tissu de laine, de pierres et des éléments de vêtements kurdes, tous datant d’au moins 70 ans. Jamal a déclaré que la peinture montre que la culture kurde favorise la coexistence entre tous, quelles que soient les ethnies et les religions.

Iraqis in asylum limbo in Jordan fashion their future

By Arab News

In a Jordanian church, Sarah Nael sews a shirt for a project that has provided scores of women who fled violence in neighboring Iraq with skills to earn a living. Many of the women escaped the extreme violence carried out by the Daesh group’s self-declared “caliphate” that cut across swaths of Iraq and Syria, before they eventually ended up in Jordan — where they found themselves without work.
“Life here is very, very difficult — if we don’t work, we can’t live,” said Nael, a 25-year-old Christian from the northern Iraqi town of Qaraqosh, who joined the “Rafedin” sewing project two years ago.
It is based at St. Joseph Catholic church in the Jordanian capital Amman. Italian priest Mario Cornioli began the project in 2016, along with Italian designers and tailors. The products, including dresses, jackets, belts and ties, are sold in Amman and Italy to raise funds. For refugees, barred from seeking regular work, the project provides them with a way to supplement handouts from the UN.
“It’s a safe place,” said Nael, who has been taught to create clothes from cloth and leather, while her brother helps in the church’s kitchen. “We are Iraqis. We are forbidden to work anywhere.” Since the project started, more than 120 women have benefited.
“We try to help them with dignity,” said Cornioli, who runs the Habibi Valtiberina Association, an Italian charity in Jordan. “A lot are the only ones working in their families.” On the tables in rooms in the church building, colorful rolls of cloth lie ready for cutting. Cornioli hopes the “Rafedin” fashion label — meaning “two rivers,” the historical term for Iraq between the Euphrates and Tigris — will become widely recognizable. For the priest, the aim is to make the project “self-sustaining” to provide more training to women in need.
While the Daesh extremists were forced out of their Iraqi territory by a US-led alliance in late 2017, many of the refugees in Jordan are still too fearful to go back to their war-ravaged home. Many are still waiting for their painfully slow asylum applications to other countries to be processed.
“This project allowed them to do something and to survive in this period,” Cornioli said. “They are just waiting to leave.”
Nael and her family returned home after Daesh was defeated in 2017, but they left again after being subjected to anonymous threats, and eventually sought safety in Amman. Their applications for asylum in Australia have been rejected. “My father is old, and my mother has cancer,” she said, but added that going back to Iraq was out of the question. “We have nothing left there to return to.”
Diana Nabil, 29, worked as an accountant in Iraq before fleeing to Jordan in 2017 with her parents and aunt, in the hope of joining her sister in Australia. During her wait, she studied how to sew fabric and leather. “Some of our relatives help us financially, and sometimes the United Nations helps us a bit,” Nabil said. “With my work here, we are managing.”
Cornioli said the project offers “the opportunity to learn something,” pointing to “success stories” of some of the women who have since left Jordan, and are now working in Australia, Canada, and the United States.
Wael Suleiman, head of the Catholic aid agency Caritas in Jordan, estimated the country hosts as many as 13,000 Christian Iraqi refugees. “They hope to obtain asylum and leave to a third country, but in light of what is going on in the world now, the doors seem to be closed to them,” Suleiman said. “They are afraid of the future, and no one can blame them for that.”

Iraq's Christians Call for Secure Future

By VOA (Voice of America)

Dale Gavlak

As Christians in Iraq prepare to mark Easter Sunday this weekend, the country's Chaldean Catholic archbishop says religious minorities there deserve for their futures to be secure and their rights to be respected.

In the Christian enclave of Ankawa, in Iraq's northern Kurdish capital of Irbil, the faithful are gearing up for Easter celebrations, following a period of fasting and prayer known as Lent.

Over the weekend, many Iraqi Christians turned out for Palm Sunday observances by gathering in churches and on streets and waving olive branches, a symbol of the peace.

A Catholic government employee who provided only his first name, Sarmeen, described the occasion as a time for Christians to celebrate Jesus, and for children, especially, to recognize their heritage and have hope for the future.

Many Iraqis say this is especially important following the persecution of ethnic Yazidis and other religious minorities by the so-called Islamic State group.

In 2014, IS rampaged through the Yazidi heartland in northern Iraq. In many cases, they forced young women into sex slavery. Many in the Yazidi community, which numbers more than half a million, were displaced and an estimated 5,000 were killed.

Meanwhile, the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Irbil, Bashar Warda, told VOA that Iraq's rich mosaic of ethnic and religious minorities, such as the Christians, feels insecure due to a lack of political stability. He noted internal disputes between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government in Irbil, as well as interference from Iran.

"Our concern as a Church is the lack of a secure future, which most of our families still feel because the whole Middle East is unstable yet," Warda said. "The political process after 20 years is still very fragile in Iraq. From time to time, we have all these political crises between Baghdad and Irbil that affects the economy, the social life and gives concern that all of those political parties have not yet really matured enough to lead this nation towards a prosper[ous] future."

Warda said the rights of all of Iraq's ethnic and religious minorities must be enshrined in the country's constitution. He said action, not just words, must be undertaken by the government to ensure that Iraqis of all backgrounds are recognized and respected.

"In a sectarian society like the one that we have, the voice of the minority will always be weak. So, you need a government program that comes from the voice of the majority ... [to]do something concrete. It's always a call for reconciliation, a call for national identity. But you need an act, not a call, an act for that," Warda said.

Before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraqi Christians numbered around 1.5 million. Two decades later, an estimated 250,000 remain in the country, analysts say.

Sectarian violence and attacks on Christian churches and families in the war's aftermath, as well as the attempted genocide by Islamic State of Iraq's religious minorities, led to large numbers of Christians fleeing Iraq.

Pasqua: Card. Sako (patriarca caldeo Baghdad), “presenza cristiana in Medio Oriente non è una coincidenza, ma un disegno divino”

By AgenSIR
4 aprile 2023

Contiene un invito forte ai cristiani alla “serietà della fede” il messaggio di Pasqua del patriarca caldeo di Baghdad, card. Louis Raphael Sako, diffuso oggi dal patriarcato della capitale irachena.
Una fede che Mar Sako descrive come “lucida, consapevole e realistica” come la fede degli Apostoli e dei primi cristiani che “sacrificarono tutto, anche la vita, per amore di Cristo. La nostra Chiesa d’Oriente ha un’eredità viva di martiri, ai quali dobbiamo costantemente ritornare”, scrive il patriarca.
“La Bibbia – si legge nel messaggio – ci aiuta a passare da una fede semplice a una fede consapevole, seria e profonda che incarniamo nella nostra vita quotidiana. Fede, amore e forza, con la presenza illuminante di Cristo in noi, tra di noi e nella nostra Chiesa, per trasformarla in incontro, festa, celebrazione e testimonianza, qualunque siano le calamità”.
Una presenza, spiega Mar Sako, cui restare “fortemente attaccati per spiegarla chiaramente ai credenti con un linguaggio comprensibile e nuovo”. “La solida speranza che ci è stata donata nella Risurrezione di Cristo ci conforta in mezzo a questi tempi difficili che noi cristiani iracheni e orientali viviamo costantemente. Ci dà la capacità di rimanere fermi e affrontare gli attacchi con pazienza e fiducia”. Da qui l’appello: “Noi, cristiani messi alla prova in questo Oriente, dobbiamo renderci conto che qui abbiamo una chiamata e una missione, e che la nostra esistenza non è una coincidenza, ma un disegno divino. Dobbiamo scoprire con chiarezza questa nostra chiamata e aderirvi con fiducia, coraggio ed entusiasmo. Non abbiamo paura, non importa sapere quanti siamo quando siamo sale della terra, lievito nella pasta e luce nelle tenebre, come Cristo ci ha chiamato ad essere. Restiamo solidali e sosteniamoci a vicenda e alleviamo il dolore l’uno dell’altro, come fece Simone di Cirene, che aiutò Gesù a portare la croce, e la Veronica, che gli asciugò il viso con il suo telo, sul quale rimase impresso il suo volto. Così facendo l’immagine di Gesù resterà nei nostri cuori”.

PM Sudani Sends Celebratory Akitu Message to Fellow Christians - PM Barzani Congratulates Christian Community on Their New year

By BASNews

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani on Saturday congratulated the Assyrian and Chaldean communities of federal Iraq on the occasion of the Akitu, the country's Christian new year.

“We send the Assyrians and Chaldeans of our people the best wishes on the occasion of the Akitu Festival. It symbolizes an exceptionally rich cultural and civilizational heritage. It is a testimony of the value of our national diversity that consolidates our unity and prosperity," said al-Sudani in a tweet today.

The Assyrian and Chaldean new year, also known as Akitu or Kha b-Nisan, is traditionally observed on the first of April every year. This festival heralds the start of a new year and the arrival of spring. Christians celebrate Akitu by wearing traditional costumes, holding parties, and serving food.

Ethnic and religious minorities in the Iraqi parliament have been allocated nine quota seats, while they have been assigned 11 quota seats in the Kurdistan Region’s national assembly to allow them to advocate for their rights and freedoms, and also ensure a diverse legislative body.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in a statement on Saturday extended his warmest wishes to the Chaldean and Assyrian community in the Region on their new year, known as Akitu.
"On the occasion of the Babylonian Assyrian new year, I send my warmest congratulations to the Chaldean and Assyrian community in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq. I hope this event will bring along peace and prosperity, and mark an end to all hardships," a statement from the prime minister read. "The peaceful coexistence of different ethnic and religious communities is one of the shining symbols defining the Kurdistan Region. I hope this multiculturalism and harmony would take deeper roots, and hope we can all work together to develop Kurdistan further."
 Ethnic and religious minorities in the Kurdistan Region have been allocated 11 quota seats in Kurdistan's national assembly to represent their communities, and ensure an inclusive legislature that reflects all voices irrespective of their ethnic or religious background.

Catholicos-Patriarch of Assyrian Church of the East Mor Awa III Royel meets with Iraqi President to discuss the situation of Christians and exiled Patriarchal Chair’s return

By Syriac Press

On Thursday, the Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Mor Awa III Royel, met with Iraqi President Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid at the Presidential Palace in Baghdad.
The meeting was attended by Archbishop of Baghdad Mor Elia Isaac and Archbishop of Diana and Kerkeslokh (Kirkuk) Abris Youkhanna.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the challenges facing Christians and other minorities in Iraq in light of the country’s current difficulties. The Patriarch also spoke about the return of the exiled Patriarchal Chair of the Assyrian Church of the East, which has been out of the country for almost 82 years.

During the meeting, the Patriarch stressed the importance of encouraging members of the Assyrian Church of the East in the diaspora to visit their homeland and maintain their connection with the land of their ancestors. This is one of the most important tasks of the Patriarchate of the Assyrian Church of the East, he stated.