Iraq's Christians fight to save threatened ancient language

By France24

Syriac, an ancient dialect of Aramaic, has traditionally been the language spoken by Christians in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, mostly in homes but also in some schools and during church services.

However, Syriac-speaking communities in the two countries have declined over the years, owing to decades of conflict driving many to seek homes in safer countries. In Iraq, the Christian population is thought to have fallen by more than two-thirds in just over two decades.

"It's true that we speak Syriac at home, but unfortunately I feel that our language is disappearing slowly but surely," said Mariam Albert, a news presenter on the Syriac-language Al-Syriania television channel.

Iraq's government launched the channel in April to help keep the language alive. It has around 40 staff and offers a variety of programming, from cinema to art and history."It is important to have a television station that represents us," said Albert, a 35-year-old mother.

Many programmes are presented in a dialect form of Syriac but Albert said the channel's news bulletins are broadcast only in classical Syriac, a form not widely understood by everyone.

The goal of Al-Syriania is "to preserve the Syriac language" through "entertainment", said station director Jack Anwia.

"Once upon a time, Syriac was a language widespread across the Middle East," he said, adding that Baghdad has a duty "to keep it from extinction".

"The beauty about Iraq is its cultural and religious diversity," he said.

'Sidelined' but not dead

Iraq is known as a cradle of civilisations, including the ancient Sumerians and Babylonians, who produced the earliest known written legal code. The country was also home to the city of Ur, which the Bible cites as Abraham's birthplace.

Today, the country is overwhelmingly Shiite Muslim but also home to Sunni Muslims, Kurds, Christians, Yazidis and other minorities, while Arabic and Kurdish are the official languages.

Before the 2003 United States-led invasion of the oil-rich country, Iraq was home to around 1.5 million Christians.

In the 20 years since, which included the brutal onslaught of the Islamic State group (IS) that swept the country in 2014, their population has declined to roughly 400,000, mostly living in the north.

The Syriac language has been "sidelined", according to Kawthar Askar, head of the Syriac language department at Salahaddin University in Arbil, in the autonomous Kurdistan region.

"We can't say it's a dead language... (but) it is under threat" of disappearing, he said.

The cause is migration, Askar said, adding that families who emigrate often continue speaking Syriac among themselves but later generations abandon it.

Askar's department teaches the language to around 40 students, with more studying it in Baghdad.

Syriac is also taught at around 265 schools across Iraq, according to Imad Salem Jajjo, responsible for Syriac education within the education ministry.

'Our mother tongue' 

The earliest written record of Syriac dates to the first or second century BC and the language reached its peak between the fifth and seventh centuries AD, Askar said.

At its height, Syriac was spoken in everyday conversation, used in literature, the sciences and within public administration.

With the seventh-century Islamic conquests, more people in the region began speaking Arabic.

By the 11th century, Syriac was clearly in decline.

Despite the decades of conflict that have ravaged Iraq, hundreds of Syriac books and manuscripts have survived.

In 2014, days before IS fighters seized swathes of northern Iraq, the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul left the city, salvaging a trove of centuries-old Syriac manuscripts from the invading jihadists.

Around 1,700 manuscripts and 1,400 books -- some dating to the 11th century -- are now conserved at Arbil's Digital Centre for Eastern Manuscripts, which is supported by the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO, the United States Agency for International Development, and the Dominican order.

The conservation will "preserve the heritage and guarantee its sustainability", archbishop Michaeel Najeeb told AFP.

Syriac "is our history, it is our mother tongue", said Salah Bakos, a teacher from Qaraqosh, a town near Mosul, which adopted the language into its curriculum 18 years ago.

"Teaching Syriac is important, not only to children but all segments of our society... even if parents say it is a dead language that serves no purpose".

Basra governor dedicates a painting representing the marshes of Iraq to His Holiness the Pope

By Iraqi News Agency
Amr Salem

Photo Iraqi News Agency

The Governor of Basra, Asaad Al-Eidani, gave on Wednesday a painting representing Iraqi marshland to Pope Francis, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported. “We visited His Holiness Pope Francis and attended the entire mass. I was keen to present a painting of the Iraqi marshes to His Holiness the Pope,” Al-Eidani told INA. 

“The painting symbolizes the dwellings of our people in the marshlands. I explained to Pope Francis that this is the first civilization created on earth and known to mankind,” the Governor of Basra said. 

Al-Eidani, accompanied by an official delegation from the Christian community in Iraq, arrived in Rome to discuss the situation of the Christian community, INA illustrated. 

Pope Francis is the head of the Catholic Church, the bishop of Rome, and the sovereign of the Vatican City State. Francis is the first pope to be a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the first from the Americas, and the first pope from outside Europe since the 8th-century papacy of Syrian pope Gregory III.

Elezione dell’Arcivescovo di Diarbekir (Amida) dei Caldei (Turchia): Mons. Sabri Anar

Foto Patriarcato caldeo

By Sala Stampa Vaticana

Il Sinodo della Chiesa di Baghdad dei Caldei ha eletto Arcivescovo di Diarbekir (Amida) dei Caldei (Türkiye) il Rev.do Sabri Anar, attualmente Parroco della comunità caldea di Arnaouville (Francia), al quale il Santo Padre aveva concesso il Suo Assenso.

Curriculum vitae

S.E. Sabri Anar è nato il 1° gennaio 1966 a Uludere in Turchia.
Ha studiato nel Seminario Minore dei Francescani a Istanbul e successivamente, nel 1985, è entrato nel Seminario Patriarcale Caldeo a Baghdad.

Il 10 novembre 1990 ha ricevuto l’ordinazione sacerdotale a Parigi, dove ha iniziato il suo servizio pastorale per la comunità caldea della regione dell’Île de France.
Dal 1990 al 2006 è stato Vicario Parrocchiale di St. Thomas Apôtre a Sarcelles e successivamente Parroco della medesima Chiesa.

Dal 2016 è stato Responsabile della Chiesa di St. Jean Apôtre ad Arnouville.

Nell’anno 2017 è stato nominato Corepiscopo nella Chiesa Caldea.
Ha conseguito il Master in Catechetica presso l’Institut Catholique di Parigi.

Monsignor Anar succede nella carica episcopale in Turchia a Monsignor Ramzi Garmou, ritiratosi per raggiunti limiti di età e già arcivescovo di Tehran, Visitatore apostolico in Europa e Arcivescovo di Diarbakir dal 2018.   

Nota di Baghdadhope 

Arcivescovo Erbil: dopo l’Isis e il grande esodo, cresce la popolazione cristiana

By Asia News

20 maggio 2023

Piccoli segnati di speranza, e di ripresa, giungono dalla popolazione cristiana irachena che dopo decenni di esilio e crollo demografico sembra essere in leggera ripresa, pur mantenendo numeri sempre contenuti rispetto alla fase precedente l’invasione americana.
Almeno a Erbil, capitale del Kurdistan iracheno, come racconta l’arcivescovo locale mons. Bashar Matti Warda il quale parla di una crescita della comunità; un aumento favorito non solo da spostamenti interni, ma soprattutto da rientri dall’estero di persone fuggite in passato dalla povertà, dalle violenze estremiste o per l’ascesa dello Stato islamico (SI, ex Isis) nell’estate 2014. 

In una recente visita negli Stati Uniti, il prelato ha ricordato le molte battaglie e difficoltà sperimentate dai cristiani e dagli iracheni in generale, soprattutto sotto il regno del terrore del califfato islamico. Sfide e difficoltà che, seppure in tono minore, proseguono anche oggi in cui la principale sfida per una vera rinascita del Paese è rappresentata dalla corruzione diffusa nel governo. 

Nel soggiorno Usa mons. Warda ha incontrato personalità istituzionali, ricevuto un dottorato dalla Walsh University nell’Ohio e ha avviato collaborazioni fra l’ateneo cattolico di Erbil - da lui fondato subito dopo l’ascesa dello Stato islamico - e diverse università americane.
 La popolazione cristiana dell’Iraq, ha raccontato in una intervista al sito cattolico di informazione Aleteia, che un tempo “superava il milione é crollata a circa 200mila”. Tuttavia, una parte di quelli che sono fuggiti nei Paesi della diaspora, soprattutto in Occidente, hanno scelto di tornare, molti di questi fermandosi a Erbil, nel nord, dove la situazione è relativamente più tranquilla.
Interrogati sul motivo del ritorno, prosegue il 53enne mons. Warda, “molti di loro hanno detto di voler crescere i loro figli in un ambiente davvero cattolico”. “Viviamo in una zona abbastanza sicura” conferma l’arcivescovo caldeo, la cui comunità è raddoppiata dalla sconfitta dell’Isis passando da duemila a quattromila famiglie in totale. “Inoltre, abbiamo accolto - prosegue - nella zona Chiese che non erano presenti prima, tanto che oggi il quartiere cristiano di Ankawa accoglie la Chiesa assira, l’eparchia cattolica siriana, l’eparchia siro-ortodossa siro, la Chiesa armena e la Chiesa latina”. Questo, aggiunge il prelato, “porta la popolazione cristiana di Erbil a oltre 8mila famiglie”.
A rafforzare la presenza cristiana ha poi contribuito la visita di papa Francesco nel marzo 2021, che ha dato una spinta ulteriore a progetti in cantiere e valorizzato opere pre-esistenti. La diocesi oggi dispone di un ospedale, quattro nuove scuole cui se ne aggiunge una quinta della Chiesa siro-ortodossa, per un totale di 18 istituti.  Una realtà apprezzata anche dai musulmani, che non esistano a mandare i loro figli nelle scuole cattoliche perché si fidano del loro grado di preparazione e dell’apertura nell’insegnamento. “In primo luogo, tutti si sono resi conto che usare la religione o usare la violenza in nome di Dio e della religione - afferma mons. Warda - è un fatto devastante e che influenzerà tutti. Per esempio, ai 125mila cristiani sfollati dall’Isis si aggiungono tre milioni di sunniti, per non parlare degli sciiti uccisi. Quindi vi è consapevolezza sull’uso del nome di Dio per diffondere la violenza”.
Infine la visita del pontefice ha permesso finalmente di parlare dell’Iraq non per gli attentati o le violenze, ma per un viaggio e un incontro basato su dialogo e fratellanza. “Ringraziamo Dio - conclude - per aver superato i tempi difficili, ma le sfide sono ancora presenti. Guardiamo ai nostri fratelli e sorelle cristiani [in Occidente] per aiutarci davvero a mantenere questo tipo di aiuto, sostegno, solidarietà in modo da poter continuare”.

Iraq’s Christian community experiencing signs of new life
By Aleteia

Card. Sako: la ‘voce’ dei cristiani risposta ad ‘attacchi e bugie’ del Movimento Babilonia

By Asia News

17 maggio 2023

I cristiani “hanno dato un segnale di forza” scendendo in piazza “per la prima volta” nella loro storia recente “a manifestare: oltre mille persone fra uomini e donne, laici e sacerdoti, con bandiere, ramoscelli di ulivo, canti”. Davanti alla nuova minaccia che ha colpito in prima persona lo stesso card. Louis Raphael Sako, patriarca di Baghdad dei caldei, il porporato lancia messaggi di ottimismo e un rinnovato entusiasmo - pur a fronte delle difficoltà - che trae origine anche dalla visita di papa Francesco di due anni fa. “Il pontefice - afferma - ha dato voce alla nostra comunità, che ora cammina a testa alta e, pur essendo minoranza, dimostra tutta la sua vitalità e la voglia di affermare i propri diritti”.

Il riferimento del leader della Chiesa caldea e irachena, è al recente attacco lanciato contro la sua persona e contro i vertici ecclesiastici del Paese dal capo del Movimento Babilonia Rayan al-Kaldani. Il sedicente leader cristiano, spalleggiato da movimenti sciiti collegati a potenze straniere, vuole formare un’enclave nella piana di Ninive sfruttando la posizione di forza e disponendo di quattro parlamentari [su cinque riservati per quota alla minoranza, sebbene la loro scelta non sia esercitata in via esclusiva da cristiani, ndr] e un ministero da lui controllati. “Vi è un’unica famiglia - spiega ad AsiaNews il cardinale - implicata: quella di Rayan, con i tre fratelli e due generi, che vuole impossessarsi di tutto”.

La manifestazione popolare di sostegno al card. Sako e alla Chiesa caldea che si è tenuta nei giorni scorsi ha registrato un momento di tensione, quando elementi legati al “movimento” hanno contestato il porporato. Immediata la replica dei presenti in piazza Tahrir, a Baghdad, che hanno risposto con slogan e canti di solidarietà, facendo sentire la loro “voce” come ha sottolineato lo stesso patriarca. “Abbiamo - sottolinea - una grande forza spirituale, morale e patriottica che loro non hanno. Loro, al contrario, contano sui soldi e sulle armi. Invece le persone solidarizzano con noi, non solo cristiani ma gli stessi musulmani che condannano questi attacchi e le bugie”.

Una testimonianza di solidarietà giunta “da 11 ambasciatori dell’Unione europea, dagli Stati Uniti, da personalità cristiane fra cui il vescovo siro-cattolico di Mosul e una lettera dei vescovi ortodossi”. Tutto questo, aggiunge, “è fonte di coraggio e di voglia di resistere”. “Ci troviamo a lottare contro una milizia - afferma - che si presenta come uno Stato potendo contare su denaro, soldati e armi. E questo, da 20 anni, è il punto debole dell’Iraq”, che non ha governi autorevoli e istituzioni salde che garantiscano il rispetto della legge e del diritto. “Qualcuno - commenta amaro il porporato - ha anche pensato a un conflitto interno ai cristiani, ma non è così”.

Nelle ultime settimane si è riacceso lo scontro fra i vertici della Chiesa caldea e il movimento capeggiato da Rayan “il caldeo”, già in passato protagonista di episodi controversi oltre a proporsi come leader (armato) della componente cristiana. La fazione “Brigate Babilonia” è nata al tempo della lotta contro lo Stato islamico (SI, ex Isis) nel nord dell’Iraq nel decennio scorso e si è andato affermando nel tempo sul piano economico e politico. “Vuole una regione autonoma - spiega - con lui a capo. La cosiddetta mobilitazione popolare è in realtà una milizia sciita e adesso si trova in una posizione di forza con quattro deputati e il ministero [dell’Immigrazione]”. Dai soldi e dalle armi, continua il porporato, “è passato ora alle bugie, accusandomi di aver venduto beni della Chiesa e di aver trasferito milioni di dollari su un conto corrente in Canada. Una assurdità, ma la gente semplice può cadere nell’inganno per questo ho promosso una campagna e mi sono speso in prima persona per affermare la verità dei fatti”. La sua è una mentalità poco educata e votata alla conquisa, che gli ha permesso oggi di “dominare Ninive” da Qaraqosh ad Alqosh ed è una posizione pericolosa perché rischia di innescare tensioni e conflitti con l’area curda. Nelle scorse settimane ha anche accusato il porporato di “interferire in politica e di danneggiare la reputazione della chiesa in Iraq”, oltre ad aver “simpatizzato con Israele e aver già visitato il Paese”. Una battuta finale il card. Sako la riserva all’esecutivo, al capo del governo e a tutta la “debolezza” che mostrano in questa vicenda, contro la quale la componente cristiana non esclude il boicottaggio delle prossime elezioni. “Non vedo una reazione forte” dalle istituzioni, ma “io non mi aspetto nulla in questo senso. Siamo noi che continuiamo questa battaglia” che, ed è questo il lato positivo: una battaglia che finisce per infondere “maggiore consapevolezza e un coraggio” che rappresentano un “elemento di novità” per i cristiani d’Iraq.

Iraq’s Christian community experiencing signs of new life

By Aleteia

John Burger

Although the number of Christians in Iraq continues to be low, there are signs of rebirth of the Church in areas that were severely impacted by the Islamic State group’s rule there almost a decade ago.

On a recent visit to the United States, Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda outlined ways in which the Church is overcoming the struggles brought about by the ISIS reign of terror. He said that Christians, like most Iraqis, continue to face challenges because of corruption in the government.

Warda, head of the Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Erbil, was in the United States for meetings with university officials and to receive an honorary doctorate at Walsh University, a Catholic institution in North Canton, Ohio. He said that plans are being discussed for collaboration between several U.S. Catholic universities and the Catholic University of Erbil, which he founded in the wake of the ISIS invasion.

Archbishop Warda oversees an Eastern Catholic archeparchy in Iraqi Kurdistan, where thousands of Christians from Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, and the Nineveh Plain, historic home to Iraq’s Christians, took refuge as the Islamic State jihadists overran parts of the country and neighboring Syria. He has worked with other Iraqi Christian activists and groups, as well as Western aid organizations to rebuild and stabilize life for the Church there.

The Christian population in Iraq, which once exceeded a million, is down to about 200,000, he said. But some Iraqi Christians who fled to the West in recent years have opted to return, especially to Erbil, the major Christian city in the north. Asked why, Warda said that some have told him that it’s because they want to rear their children in a Catholic environment.

“Because we live in the safe area of Kurdistan in northern Iraq,” Warda said in an interview, Chaldean Christian growth in Erbil has doubled from 2,000 families to over 4,000 families since ISIS was defeated on the battlefield. “And also, we welcomed in the area Churches that had not been there before. So today, the Christian area of what we call Ankawa has the Assyrian Church, Syrian Catholic Eparchy, Syriac Orthodox Eparchy, Armenian Church, Latin Church, different churches.”

That, he said, brings the total Christian population of Erbil to over 8,000 families.

Effects of Pope Francis’ visit

In addition to the university, the archeparchy was also able to open a hospital and four new schools, and the Syriac Orthodox Church has opened a school, for a total of 18 Christian schools. Many Muslim residents send their children to the schools, he said, because they trust them.

Asked what has changed in the wake of the liberation from ISIS, a group that used violent means to impose its version of Islam on all of society, the archbishop said, “First, everyone realized that using religion or using violence in the name of God and religion is a devastating fact and it’s going to affect all. For example, 125,000 Christians were displaced because of ISIS but over 3 million Sunnis also were displaced because of ISIS, not to mention how many Shia were killed because of ISIS. So one [thing is] the awareness that enough [is] enough of using the name of God and religion and spreading violence.”

In addition, he said Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq in 2021 has had a lasting effect.

“No one has denied that his visit put Iraq in the news for the first time not [as an] Iraq of violence, not Iraq of kidnapping, not Iraq of killing and bombing. No no no, Iraq as a joyful people receiving a guest,” said the 53-year-old archbishop, a member of the Redemptorist Order.
“His visit, for example, made possible for Iraqi channels to speak about Christianity in Iraq, the history, the religious science, the persecution, the difficulties, the contribution of those Christians.”

He hopes, though, that textbooks used in public schools will follow suit.

“What’s not in the curriculum is the history of Christianity in Iraq, the contribution of Christian science in the 9th and 10th century, the contribution of the Christian translators who translated the … first philosophical texts from Greek to Arabic, to make it possible for Arab people to read philosophy. It’s not there, what we call the historical sites from the 7th and 8th century, some of the big monasteries, some of the big citadels, some of what we call historical facts of monks and monasteries that was spread all over, all over Iraq.”

The archbishop expressed gratitude for the help of reconstruction provided by organizations such as Aid to the Church in Need, the Knights of Columbus, and Hungary Helps, as well as students and active and retired teachers who are volunteering to work in the Catholic University of Erbil and other schools for months at a time, but said that more help is always needed.

“We thank God that we passed the difficult times, but the challenges are still there, and we look on our Christian brothers and sisters [in the West] to really help us maintain this kind of help, support, solidarity so we can continue.”

European governments defend Iraq’s Patriarch Sako

By Vatican News

May 15, 2023

Joseph Tulloch

Eleven different European countries, together with the European Union, released a statement on Sunday evening affirming their support for Iraq’s Patriarch Louis Raphaël Sako.

The Patriarch – who heads the country's Chaldean Church, and was made a Cardinal by Pope Francis in 2018 – is facing criticism over comments concerning political representation for Iraq’s ancient Christian minority.

Sunday’s statement expressed the European governments’ “solidarity” with Patriarch Sako, and stressed the importance of his “efforts to protect the rights of Christians on the soil that they have inhabited for two millennia.”

The statement

On Sunday evening, Patriarch Sako received a delegation of ambassadors and deputy ambassadors including those from France, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the European Union.

Together, they issued a statement in support of the Patriarch, with the approval of the ambassadors of Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden, and Hungary.

In the statement, the ambassadors to Iraq note that they had visited the Cardinal “to express our solidarity regarding the recent public attacks against his person and our concern for the Christians and other religious communities of Iraq.”

They also praise the Patriarch’s “efforts to protect the rights of Christians on the soil that they have inhabited for two millennia.”

The statement then goes on to appeal to the country’s Christians to work together, noting that “the existing contrasts do not help their role in the Iraqi society”, and expressing the wish that “problems be overcome and ever greater cooperation among the Churches be achieved.”

The ambassadors conclude their note by reaffirming their support for “understanding and a peaceful dialogue among the different components of the Iraqi people” and “the preservation of the Country’s diversity, which is one of its main assets.”

The Movement currently occupies four of the five parliamentary seats which the Iraqi constitution guarantees to Christians.

Patriarch Sako, however, together with other Christian figures, has said that its claims to be affiliated with the Chaldean Church are bogus, and that it does not represent the country's Christians. Members of the Babylon Movement were at the forefront of recent criticism against Patriarch Sako.

It is not just European governments who have come to the Patriarch's defence.
On 8 May, the Prime Minister of Iraq’s Kurdistan region vowed his support for the Chaldean leader, emphasizing the need to “improve the situation of Christians” in the country.

Iraq’s only Anglican priest visits US to inform Episcopalians about his church’s ministries

By Episcopal News Service

Shireen Korkzan

May 15, 2023

The Rev. Faiz Basheer Jerjes, the only Anglican priest serving the only Anglican Church in Iraq, is in the middle of a visit to the United States, where he’s sharing the story of his church and its ministries through a series of events.

Jerjes is accompanied by Sinan Hannah Karakash, chief administrator of St. George’s Church. Their trip is co-sponsored by The Episcopal Church’s Office of Global Partnerships and Stand With Iraqi Christians, an Episcopal nonprofit that serves to financially and spiritually support Christians in Iraq.

“[Stand With Iraqi Christians] is thrilled to welcome Canon Faiz and Sinan Hannah to the United States, primarily to raise awareness within The Episcopal Church of the powerful ministries of our church in Iraq,” Buck Blanchard, co-chair of SWIC, told Episcopal News Service. “Their work provides healing to the people of Iraq, both spiritually and practically.”

On May 17, The Episcopal Church’s Office of Global Partnerships will host a webinar at 2 p.m. Eastern. It’s an opportunity to listen to Jerjes speak about St. George’s ministries and how to curb religious extremism in Iraq, which is a predominantly Shia Muslim country with multiple religious minority groups, including Yazidis and Zoroastrians in addition to Christians.

Jerjes was born in Baghdad into a Syriac Christian family. He was ordained a deacon in 2011 and became the first Iraqi national to be ordained an Anglican priest a year later. St. George’s Church is part of the Anglican Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf.

St. George’s Church in Baghdad is home to a couple of hundred Christians. Jerjes said that supporting Iraqi Christians will help minimize their suffering, “and they may stay in [Iraq] because they will have a decent life.”

“I have chosen [to visit] the United States because the United States is directly involved with the Iraqi situation; the whole system has changed since the moment the United States started the war in 2003,” Jerjes told ENS through Karakash, who is serving as his interpreter. “I am looking to find resources for St. George so that we can have a Christian community exactly as it was in the past.”

An estimated 1.5 million Christians lived in Iraq before the U.S.-led war in Iraq started in 2003. Over the last 20 years much of the Christian community has fled Iraq to escape violence and persecution, and now that number is approximated to be in the hundreds of thousands or less and continues to dwindle even though the war officially ended in 2011. St. George’s Church was badly damaged by bombings during the war. The COVID-19 pandemic and ISIS have exacerbated the situation.

Through its church-based interfaith ministries, St. George’s Church provides free medical and dental care to the community, as well as an elementary school for children. The church also has a resource center with books and computer access for students, and it frequently hosts interfaith activities for the community.

Hearing Jerjes’ story firsthand about St. George’s Church in the context of ministry will help develop relationships as Christians learn from one another, the Rev. Paul Feheley, The Episcopal Church’s Middle East partnership officer, told ENS. He said he hopes the new dialogue will lead to empathy.

“It’s not just about [Westerners] shifting dollars to the church in Iraq, but it’s also about developing these relationships,” Feheley said. “I recently worshiped with people at St. George’s; it was all in Arabic, a language I don’t speak, but nevertheless because there’s a unity about Eucharist that goes around the world, it was easy to follow, and I knew where in the Mass they were … Like the invitation from Jesus to the disciples in John chapter one, ‘Come and see.’”

Jerjes is visiting several Episcopal churches, non-governmental organizations, government officials and other organizations this month to inform people about the struggles Christians face in Iraq and share how they can help support St. George’s ministries.

While in Washington, D.C., last week, Jerjes spoke at in-person forums at Washington National Cathedral and Church of the Ascension and Saint Agnes; he also spoke at Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral in Pennsylvania on May 15. On May 21, he will speak at Saint Bartholomew’s Church and on May 22 Church of the Holy Trinity, both in New York City.

Feheley said that both donating money to St. George’s Church and reaching out to members of Congress as legislation affecting people in Iraq comes through are examples of tangible ways to help the Iraqi people.

“If you’re going to be a Christian, then you can’t ignore the many Biblical things Jesus said about caring for other people,” Feheley said. “It’s very easy to comfortably sit back and do nothing, but we can’t ignore what the call is we’re commissioned to do by baptism, what we’re called to do by the eucharist. So, we need to use a faith-in-action approach to prayer and supporting the people in Iraq.”

Iraqi division intensifies between church, Christian Babylon Movement

By Al Monitor 

Ali Mamouri
May 14, 2023

Following a series of confrontations, it seems an open war has broken out between the Catholic Caledonian Church and the Christian political party and militia of Babylon Movement.

In mid-April, an Iraqi court issued a summons for Cardinal Louis Sako, patriarch and archbishop of Baghdad, in response to an accusation by an Iraqi businessman affiliated with the Babylon Movement over a property belonging to the church.

On April 29, Rayan al-Kaldani, secretary-general of the Babylon Movement, accused Sako of interfering in politics and damaging the reputation of the church.

In response, Sako held a lengthy video conference May 7, threatening to internationalize the Christian issue if the Iraqi government failed to take action against Kaldani.

Babylon's domination of Christian politics

The Babylon Movement was founded in 2014 as a paramilitary group of Christians who fought against the Islamic State (IS). It was later integrated into the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) under the name of the 50th Brigade.

The movement has been implicated in illegal land seizures in Ninevah province and Baghdad, as well as several other corruption cases, particularly in the Ministry of Immigration that has been under their control since 2020.

Babylon was accused of multiple human rights violations during its fight against IS, which eventually led the United States to impose sanctions on Kaldani in 2019.

The movement gradually expanded into politics and participated in the 2018 and 2021 elections. It won two out of five Christian seats in the Iraqi parliament in 2018 and all five seats in the 2021 elections. In both governments, Babylon received the Ministry of Immigration as its share in the government and appointed Ivan Faiq to the position.

This provided an opportunity for the movement to advocate for Iraqi Christians. The church, however, saw it as a dangerous move that could further endanger an already vulnerable minority.

The movement has accused Sako of involvement in politics, “establishing parties, engaging in electoral battles, and jeopardizing the security and future of Christians in Iraq,” according to Kaldani’s April 29 statement.

An official source at the Ministry of Immigration, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al-Monitor that Faiq has been facing constant political pressure from Sako. The church denied the allegation.

The church has voiced concerns about the following:

∗ Involving Christians in risky movements, such as a paramilitary group under the PMU, whose activities have raised concerns among Sunnis and Kurds. Sako slammed Kaldani for organizing multiple parades in disputed areas of northern Iraq, bringing Christian fighters with religious symbols to the streets, which could lead to tensions with other groups. “The Babylon Movement under Kaldani’s direction carry pictures of Christ, the Virgin Mary and the cross in the street, bringing religion into politics, which is inappropriate. We are not in a crusade,” Sako said in his recent statement.

∗ Illegal seizure of Christian properties. During the IS occupation of Mosul and Ninevah Plains, many Christians were forced to flee to other parts of Iraq or to other countries, leaving their properties behind. Several reports indicate that Babylon has been illegally acquiring these properties.

∗ By securing all five seats reserved for Christians in the parliament, Kaldani has become their official political representative in Iraq, which undermines the church's position. In the past, the government often sought advice from the church when nominating candidates for positions allocated to Christians, but now Babylon is the only party receiving them. Sako also accused Kaldani of trying to buy Christian clerics to expand his influence within the church as well.

The Chaldean Archbishop of Kirkuk and Sulaimaniyah, Youssef Toma, expressed support for Sako, calling the Babylonian movement a dangerous move. “We are here facing a new Christian fascism that empowers opponents, antagonizes family and relatives, and demolishes everything that was built in the past decades in our church,” Toma said.

Kaldani invited Sako to a public debate, but Sako declined, stating, “We are a religious institution, and we do not interfere in political matters. The current politics divided Christians as it divided Shiites and Sunnis.”

To garner backing from his Shiite allies in the PMU and their affiliated political parties under the umbrella of the Coordination Framework, Kaldani accused Sako of being sympathetic toward Israel and having previously visited the country.

Sako, however, denied the charges. He has warned the Iraqi government that if no action is taken to prevent Kaldani’s control over Christian affairs in Iraq and his involvement in illegal activities and corruption, he will seek assistance from the international community.

The sharp division between the church and Babylon is expected to continue. This could eventually have adverse consequences for the Christen community in Iraq, trapping them in a precarious situation between competing parties.

Cristiani in piazza per un “presidio di solidarietà” dopo gli attacchi al Patriarca caldeo Sako

By Fides 
13 maggio 2023

Erano più di duecento i cristiani che la sera di venerdì 12 maggio si sono riuniti in piazza Tahrir, al centro di Baghdad, per manifestare la propria solidarietà al Cardinale Louis Raphael Sako, Patriarca della Chiesa caldea, divenuto oggetto nelle ultime settimane di campagne denigratorie via social.
Al “presidio di solidarietà” hanno preso parte anche suore e sacerdoti, che insieme agli altri presenti tenevano in mano bandierine dell’Iraq, candele, ramoscelli d’ulivo e striscioni con scritte che chiedevano alle autorità di intervenire per assicurare che i seggi elettorali riservati ai cristiani nel Parlamento iracheno non vengano di fatto accaparrati da gruppi legati ai Partiti maggiori. I partecipanti hanno anche pregato e ripetuto slogan a sostegno della pace sociale e dell’unità tra i cristiani. Lo stesso raduno – riferiscono fonti irachene come il sito d’informazione ankawa.com – è stato disturbato dall’arrivo di un gruppo organizzato di persone sopraggiunte a lanciare urla e slogan offensivi nei confronti del Patriarca Sako. Dopo circa una mezz’ora, il “presidio di solidarietà” è stato sciolto e i partecipanti hanno lasciato la piazza.

L’episodio di piazza Tahrir arriva dopo che nelle settimane scorse si è riacceso lo scontro e le polemiche intorno alla sempre più controversa questione delle “quote” di seggi parlamentari riservate a componenti minoritarie della popolazione irachena.

La legge elettorale in vigore prevede che cinque seggi del Parlamento siano riservati a candidati appartenenti alle comunità cristiane autoctone, affinché le esigenze della componente cristiana trovino espressione nell’esercizio del potere legislativo. Ma il voto per eleggere i candidati destinati a occupare i seggi riservati alla componente cristiana non è esercitato in via esclusiva da elettori cristiani. Anche i non cristiani possono votare per assegnare i 5 seggi che in teoria dovrebbero essere riservati alla componente cristiana. In questo modo, le forze politiche maggioritarie riescono a pilotare anche l’assegnazione delle quote di seggi riservate alle componenti minoritarie, cristiani compresi.

Dopo le elezioni legislative del 10 ottobre 2021, come già riferito dall’Agenzia Fides, l’ex parlamentare cristiano Joseph Sliwa si era spinto fino a dichiarare che i cinque nuovi parlamentari aggiudicatari dei seggi della quota riservata ai cristiani quota non rappresentavano i battezzati iracheni, visto che a suo dire il 90% dei voti espressi a loro favore in realtà non erano arrivati da elettori non cristiani.

Accuse e polemiche, emersa già in occasione delle elezioni politiche irachene del 2018, chiama in causa formazioni politiche maggiori, di matrice sciita e curda, che secondo i critici, nelle ultime tornate elettorali, avrebbero dirottato una parte dei propri voti sui candidati in corsa per la conquista dei seggi riservati ai cristiani, in modo da piazzare in quei seggi dei parlamentari totalmente allineati alle proprie strategie politiche. In particolare, al centro delle tensioni c’è il “Movimento Babilonia”, che attualmente occupa ben 4 dei 5 seggi riservati a candidati cristiani dal sistema elettorale nazionale. Tale movimento è nato come proiezione politica delle cosiddette “Brigate Babilonia”, milizia armata formatasi nel contesto delle operazioni militari contro i jihadisti dello Stato Islamico (Daesh) che portarono alla riconquista delle aree nord-irachene cadute nelle mani jihadiste nel 2014. Guidate da Ryan al Kildani (Ryan “il caldeo”), le “Brigate Babilonia” avevano sempre rivendicato la propria etichetta di milizia composta da cristiani, anche se risultava documentato il loro collegamento con milizie sciite filo-iraniane come le Unità di Protezione popolare (Hashd al Shaabi). Anche la sigla politica del “Movimento Babilonia” viene considerata vicina alla “Organizzazione Badr”, movimento politico che alle elezioni era confluito nella Alleanza Fatah, cartello che raggruppava nove sigle e organizzazioni sciite di orientamento filo-iraniano.

A fine marzo, i Vescovi delle Chiese presenti a Mosul e nella Piana di Ninive, con una iniziativa eclatante, avevamp annunciato il possibile boicottaggio delle prossime tornate elettorali da parte della componente cristiana della popolazione irachena, se non verranno prese in considerazione le richieste sollevate in seno a tale componente e volte a tutelare gli spazi di rappresentanza politica garantiti a candidati cristiani in Parlamento e nelle istituzioni politiche nazionali e locali dalle stesse leggi elettorali attualmente in vigore.

Anche il Patriarca caldeo Sako è intervenuto nella vicenda. Lunedì 8 maggio, in un’intervista a un’emittente televisiva del Kurdistan iracheno, il Cardinale iracheno aveva accennato anche alla possibilità di ricorrere a organi di giustizia internazionali per tutelare la corretta e non manipolata distribuzione della quota di seggi parlamentari riservata ai cristiani iracheni.

Nelle ultime settimane, denigrazioni e attacchi rivolti al Patriarca da soggetti legati al “Movimento Babilonia” hanno assunto toni sempre più aspri.

Sono intervenuti anche i responsabili dell’Ufficio per le dotazioni alle comunità di fede minoritarie (cristiani, yazidi, mandei-sabei, shabak) con un comunicato diffuso per esprimere solidarietà al Cardinale iracheno. “Stiamo monitorando con attenzione” si legge nel comunicato “i commenti recentemente pubblicati sui social media, che tentano di pregiudicare la guida della Chiesa cattolica caldea, rappresentata dalla persona del Cardinale Mar Louis Raphael Sako”.
I responsabili dell’Ufficio per le dotazioni respingono con forza le accuse mosse, riconoscendo il contributo che anche il Patriarca Sako ha offerto al processo volto a liberare la società irachena “dalla trincea dei conflitti settari”.

Iraq’s top Chaldean patriarch threatens international lawsuit against militia leader

By Kurdistan24
May 8, 2023

The head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako, on Monday threatened to sue the Iran-backed militia leader Rayan al-Kildani at an international court if the Iraqi government fails to take necessary measures against the US-blacklisted military figure.

The Patriarch’s remarks to Kurdistan 24 come amid a war of words between the Christian clergyman and al-Kildani over numerous offenses, including the stealing of properties belonging to Christians.

The militia leader is “self-aggrandizing and wants to become a leader,” the clergyman told Kurdistan 24 on Monday morning.

“How can he criticize the church, and Kak Masoud Barzani (President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party); he is like a father to us in age, experience, and position,” the Patriarch added.

The religious leader accused al-Kildani of “seizing the property of Christians” in the Nineveh Plains, as well as domineering the affairs of the religious minority.

“If the Iraqi government does not put an end [to this], we will sue him in international courts,” Sako said. The parliamentary quotas are “held by” al-Kildani along with the Ministry of Immigration and Displacement, he added.
 Al-Kildani is the head of Babylon Movement and its affiliate—Kataib Babiliyoun—the 50th Brigade of the Shiite militias, known as Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). The U.S. Treasury designated al-Kildani for “serious human rights abuses,” on July 18, 2019. “In May 2018, a video circulated among Iraqi human rights civil society organizations in which al-Kildani cut off the ear of a handcuffed detainee,” the Treasury noted. Although the Movement presents itself as a Christian military unit of the PMF, most of its recruits are Shiite Muslims from Baghdad, Sadr City, Al-Muthanna, and Dhi Qar, according to Michael Knights, a Shiite militia expert at the Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy.
In 2017, al-Kildani founded the militia group, whose members were expelled from the Hamdaniya district by the PMF command and Prime Minister Office for stealing ancient artifacts from the Mar Behnam Monastery and homes. The group, whose scope of control is in northeastern Mosul, had been previously accused of launching rocket attacks against US and Kurdish forces. In a phone call with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Sunday, the Kurdish premier expressed support for the Christian community across the country, including Nineveh Plains.

Il governo iracheno lancia la raccolta dati per creare un “database” digitale sulle comunità cristiane

By Fides - Ankawa.com

2 maggio 2023

Creare un “database” digitale sui cristiani iracheni, che ne fotografi la distribuzione nelle aree del Paese, il livello di istruzione, le competenze professionali, lo stato civile, il numero dei componenti dei nuclei familiari, le occupazioni lavorative, la qualità dei loro alloggi. 

E’ con questo intento che il Dipartimento per i cristiani dell’Ufficio per le dotazioni delle comunità di fede minoritarie ha elaborato e iniziato a diffondere un modulo elettronico per la raccolta di dati statistici, destinato ai membri delle componenti non musulmane della Nazione. 

L’iniziativa, realizzata in collaborazione con il dipartimento di tecnologia informatica dell’Ufficio per le dotazioni, viene presentata come un tentativo di creare uno strumento utile a favorire l’efficacia di investimenti, servizi e progetti destinati dal governo al sostegno delle comunità cristiane autoctone. I risultati della raccolta dati non potranno essere considerati come un vero e proprio censimento ufficiale delle comunità cristiane irachene, visto che la compilazione del modulo elettronico da parte dei singoli cittadini e cittadine rimane facoltativa. 

Per assicurare la buona riuscita dell’iniziativa – riferiscono fonti irachene come il sito d’informazione ankawa.com – il Dipartimento per i cristiani dell’Ufficio per le dotazioni ha comunque sollecitato i Capi delle Chiese e delle comunità ecclesiali a incoraggiare i membri delle singole comunità a compilare il modulo elettronico per la raccolta dati, disponibile sul sito web istituzionale dello stesso Dipartimento. 

Non è stata indicata alcuna data di scadenza per la compilazione del questionario elettronico, proprio perché esso rimane uno strumento flessibile e aperto a continui aggiornamenti, in grado di registrare i cambiamenti che si verificano in merito alla distribuzione geografica delle comunità cristiane nel Paese e alla loro condizione sociale e lavorativa.