On Monday, July 17, 2023, the President of the Republic of Iraq, Abdullatif Jamal Rashid, met with the Chargé d’Affaires of the Vatican Embassy in Iraq, Fr. Charles Lwanga Ssuuna, at Baghdad Palace.
Fr. Charles Lwanga Ssuuna confirmed that "The Holy See does not have any observations or objections regarding the procedures of the Presidency of the Republic."
His Excellency President Rashid reiterated to the Chargé d’Affaires the reasons for the abolition of the Presidential Decree or 147 of 2013.
The President stated that since 2018 the legal and constitutional advisers at the Presidency, as well as state judicial authorities within the country have determined that the President of the Republic of Iraq simply does not have the power or authority to issue Presidential decrees to heads of denominations.
The President stated that since 2018 the legal and constitutional advisers at the Presidency, as well as state judicial authorities within the country have determined that the President of the Republic of Iraq simply does not have the power or authority to issue Presidential decrees to heads of denominations.
President Rashid highlighted that the repeal of the Presidential Decree, does not in any way diminish the religious or legal status of His Eminence Cardinal Raphael Louis Sako as Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon by the Holy See.
In his remarks, President Rashid made it clear that the abolition of the Presidential Decree is solely intended to correct a legal and constitutional discrepancy.
Devoid of legal foundations, Decree No. 147 of 2013 also put the Iraqi State and Presidency in a conundrum, as there were numerous additional requests made by the other heads of churches and other religious communities for similar Presidential Decrees lacking any constitutional or legal backing, President Rashid said.
The President reassured Fr. Charles Lwanga Ssuuna that His Eminence and the Chaldean community have nothing but respect by the Presidency of the Republic.
