Iraqi cardinal pushes for Christian quota reform before vote

By The Pillar

Luke Coppen

March 26, 2025

Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako issued the appeal March 26, arguing that the current process failed to ensure Iraq’s Christian minority was genuinely represented in parliament.

In Iraq, Sako’s move is likely to be seen as part of his ongoing clash with Rayan al-Kildani, a party leader who styles himself as the de facto protector of Iraq’s Christian minority. Sako is the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Iraq’s largest Christian community and one of the 23 autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the pope.

His intervention is significant because four of the five seats allocated to Christians in the Council of Representatives of Iraq are currently occupied by members of the Babylon Movement, a Christian party founded by al-Kildani and politically aligned with the country’s Shia Muslim majority.

Sako and al-Kildani clashed publicly in 2023, prompting the cardinal to leave Baghdad for nine months of self-imposed exile.

In his message, Sako noted that the Chaldean Church was encouraging its members to register to vote in the October parliamentary election.

But he said: “Our current representation is incorrect, and we refuse to be used as fuel for the interests of others. From this standpoint, I appeal to the Shias, Sunnis, and Kurds in the federal government to help us regain our representation, our role, and our rights.”

“I propose restricting voting for quota seats to Christians through a special voter registry, so they can choose whoever they believe is most capable of serving their country.”

The restriction of voting for the five quota seats to Christians would require a substantial change to the present system, in which all registered voters in a specific region can cast ballots for candidates for reserved seats regardless of their religion.

In Iraq’s parliament, nine seats are currently reserved for minorities out of 329 seats. One seat each is allocated to Yazidis, Shabaks, Mandaeans, and Feyli Kurds.

The five Christian seats are distributed by region, with one seat each in Baghdad, Duhok, Erbil, Nineveh, and Kirkuk, all of which have sizable Christian communities.

Each seat is contested in the respective region, with candidates drawn from Christian political parties or standing as independents.

The Babylon Movement’s victory in four out of the five ballots in the last parliamentary election, in 2021, was controversial. The fifth seat was reportedly won by an independent candidate.

Former member of parliament Joseph Sliwa argued that the election winners did not truly represent Christians because 90% of the votes they gained were from non-Christians.

“The votes and parliament seats are not real,” he told the Rudaw Media Network, based in the Kurdistan Region.

Critics alleged that the Babylon Movement won the seats thanks to support from Shia voters mobilized by the Christian party’s allies in the Shiite Coordination Framework, a coalition of Shia Muslim parties.

Criticism of the present Christian quota system was expressed years before the 2021 election.

In a 2018 paper, the Assyrian Policy Institute said: “A loophole in Iraqi electoral law has left the voting process for the selection of the Christian MPs who will fill the seats reserved by the quotas open to non-Christian voters, which enables powerful non-Christian parties to exploit the quota system.”

Cardinal Sako has criticized the present Christian quota system on previous occasions. But his new appeal comes amid a national debate over possible amendments to the electoral system ahead of the parliamentary election.

According to Iraqi media, politicians are discussing whether to amend the country’s electoral law, expanding the number of parliamentary seats to reflect the results of a November 2024 census, the first comprehensive population survey for almost 40 years.

Almost 30 million Iraqis, out of a total population of around 45 million, are eligible to vote in the upcoming elections, up from 25 million in the 2021 election.

Tensions between Cardinal Sako and Rayan al-Kildani came to public attention in early 2023.

Al-Kildani, who claims to represent the interests of the country’s Chaldean minority, accused Sako of “establishing parties, engaging in electoral battles, and jeopardizing the security and future of Christians in Iraq.”

The cardinal, in turn, said that al-Kildani was “self-aggrandizing and wants to become a leader.”

After Iraq’s President Abdul Latif Rashid rescinded a civil decree recognizing Sako as head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, the cardinal announced his decision to withdraw from Baghdad and settle in a monastery in the Kurdistan Region.

He said he took the step following a “deliberate and humiliating campaign” against him by al-Kildani’s supporters.

Sako returned to Baghdad in April 2024 at the invitation of Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

Not all Chaldean Catholic leaders are believed to share Sako’s negative assessment of al-Kildani — one of many disagreements besetting Iraq’s Chaldean hierarchy.

A lawsuit filed in a U.S. court in February accused Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil of being a “close associate” of al-Kildani, who was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2019. Warda categorically denied the lawsuit’s claims.

In a November 2024 interview with The Pillar, Warda addressed claims that he is close to al-Kildani.

He said: “I am not a politician, I am a bishop, and as such my door is open to everyone.”

“Of course, it should be said that Rayan al-Kildani works in Baghdad, not in Erbil, politically he is completely outside of my region.”

He added: “But people should know that I have welcomed, and will welcome, anyone, because the role of the Church is to be a bridge of peace and reconciliation.”

Cardinal Sako said in September 2024 that he had filed a canonical complaint against several Chaldean bishops, including Warda. Sako had previously criticized the bishops for skipping a July 2024 episcopal synod, which bishops are ordinarily required by canon law to attend, and an August 2024 spiritual retreat.

The number of Christians in Iraq may have fallen as low as 250,000, from around 1.5 million at the start of the 21st century.

The advocacy group Open Doors ranked Iraq as the 17th-worst place in the world in which to be a Christian in its 2025 World Watch List.

“There seems to be less tolerance for Christians even in areas where they were previously more welcome, such as in the Kurdistan Region,” the group said.

“Without meaningful reforms and guarantees of Christian rights, many fear the exodus of Christians from Iraq will continue unabated.”

Patriarcato caldeo, il Foyer Papa Francesco di Baghdad per famiglie vulnerabili

By AgenSIR - Patriarcato caldeo

17 marzo 2025

Foto Patriarcato caldeo

Si chiama Foyer Papa Francesco ed è il complesso residenziale, inaugurato in questi giorni, che si trova nel quartiere di Al-Sa’doun, a Baghdad, costruito grazie ad una donazione di 500mila dollari lasciata alla chiesa caldea da Papa Francesco dopo il suo viaggio in Iraq (5-8 marzo 2021). 

Il card. Louis Raphael Sako, patriarca caldeo, ha voluto destinare questa somma per costruire il foyer, aggiungendovi altri 200mila dollari. 

Il complesso, spiegano dal patriarcato caldeo, dispone di 14 appartamenti. Ogni appartamento ha due camere da letto, un salone, un bagno e una cucina. 

In un primo momento, il Patriarcato aveva pensato di concedere questi appartamenti agli sfollati di Mosul e delle città della Piana di Ninive, ma poiché la maggior parte degli sfollati sta tornando nelle loro città o è emigrata all’estero, il cardinale ha deciso di affittare questi appartamenti, e di devolvere il ricavato alle famiglie bisognose. È di questi giorni la creazione di un Comitato di gestione del foyer per l’assegnazione delle abitazioni.

Sete di una presenza

By Piccole Sorelle di Gesù

Ps Afnan e Henriette-Josée

14 marzo 2025

Basra è una città del sud dell’Iraq, situata a 550 km da Baghdad, i cristiani che vi abitano, appartenenti a vari riti, sono piuttosto isolati dalle comunità cristiane irakene. Per questo Afnan e Henriette-Josée, due nostre sorelle, si sono messe in viaggio per andare a visitarli. Sono partite come Giosuè e Caleb e, come loro, hanno potuto constatare che in questa terra «vi scorrono davvero latte e miele» (dal libro dei Numeri 13). Sono tornate grate e felici, cariche di datteri, libri ma soprattutto dei molti volti impressi nella memoria del cuore.

Foto Piccole Sorelle di Gesù

Da Baghdad abbiamo preso l’autostrada che, per chilometri, non attraversa né città né villaggi, col desiderio di incontrare una piccola minoranza di cristiani, cattolici e ortodossi di vari riti, che da secoli vive tra i musulmani.

È stata la chiesa caldea ad offrirci ospitalità. Mons. Habib Nawfaly, il vescovo di questa comunità, ci ha accolte con molta gentilezza. È un uomo profondo, molto colto: scrive e traduce libri, di cui ci ha fatto dono. Alla fine del nostro soggiorno, ci ha invitate a tornare di tanto in tanto, anche per brevi periodi, per sostenere le minoranze cristiane e per essere presenti tra i musulmani, com’è stato fin dagli inizi della Fraternità.

In occasione della festa di Santo Stefano abbiamo partecipato alla messa che, secondo i riti orientali, è cantata da diaconi, uomini e donne.

Il giorno dopo, con l’aiuto dei catechisti, i due sacerdoti caldei, hanno radunato i cristiani di rito caldeo e di rito siro-ortodosso per un incontro. Abbiamo presentato un powerpoint su San fr. Charles, e un altro su ps Magdeleine, a giovani tra i 12 e i 17 anni. Siamo rimaste colpite dai loro sguardi attenti, dall’ascolto e dall’ interesse dimostratoci anche e soprattutto dalle domande che ci hanno posto.

Domenica sera, durante la messa, celebrata per la vita consacrata, una di noi ha condiviso alcune “perle” del nostro Carisma.

Durante il soggiorno accompagnate dai sacerdoti, siamo andate a trovare diverse famiglie. Nel cortile della chiesa della Vergine Maria c’è una casa a due piani con vari appartamenti dove vivono famiglie che non hanno casa propria. Abbiamo visitato quattro di queste famiglie. Siamo poi andate alla chiesa di San Tommaso, in fase di ricostruzione, dopo i danneggiamenti della guerra Molte persone ci hanno aperto il loro cuore, condividendoci gioie, dolori, preoccupazioni. Siamo rimaste commosse da tutti questi incontri.

L’ultimo giorno abbiamo partecipato alla messa nella comunità di rito latino, a cui appartengono solo una decina di famiglie. Nel cortile accanto alla chiesa, c’è un grande convento di suore domenicane, attualmente ne sono rimaste solo due: gestiscono una scuola materna che accoglie 250 bambini, quasi tutti musulmani.

La chiesa siro-cattolica si trova nel cuore del mercato ed è sempre aperta: ogni giorno vi entrano circa un centinaio di persone (tra cui molti musulmani) per affidare a Dio le loro preghiere. Il vescovo ci ha accolte calorosamente e ci ha proposto di tornare per essere presenti qui.

Una sera, siamo state invitate a cenare con alcune persone che fanno parte dell’associazione ecumenica “Il Buon Samaritano”, che si occupa di persone in situazione di povertà.

Il nostro «pellegrinaggio» tra le diverse Chiese non si è fermato qui, ci ha portato oltre le frontiere delle confessioni, attraverso l’incontro con lo Cheikh [1] Hasan Zachary, Lo avevamo conosciuto a un congresso dell’associazione libanese “Adyan” che promuove il dialogo tra le religioni. Anche Hasan ha fondato un’associazione, “Approcci e dialoghi”, che propone programmi per i giovani per prevenire e ridurre violenza e settarismo. Con lui e Padre Aram abbiamo partecipato a un congresso culturale popolare.

A causa dell’isolamento di Basra e della lontananza da Baghdad, abbiamo colto il bisogno dei vescovi e dei sacerdoti di condividere le loro esperienze, le preoccupazioni personali e missionarie. I cristiani, e più in generale la popolazione, hanno anch’essi sete di una presenza religiosa. Affidiamo a Dio la loro sete insieme al nostro desiderio di poterli raggiungere di tanto in tanto e custodiamo questi nostri nuovi amici nella preghiera.

[1] Titolo tradizionalmente attribuito, nel mondo arabo, ai capi di comunità locali o ad autorità religiose.

Iraq’s Cardinal Sako: Some Christians are living tragically

By Shafaq News - Chaldean Patriarchate

On Saturday, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, head of the Chaldean Church in Iraq and worldwide, affirmed that terrorist groups coerced Christians into converting to Islam in cities and areas previously under their control.

"I write these lines to seek justice for a limited number of Christians who were forced by al-Qaeda or ISIS elements to declare their conversion to Islam under the threat of death,” Sako stated.

These Christians, he emphasized, have no knowledge of Islam, describing their conversion as “superficial.” He also noted that minors are automatically registered as Muslims if one parent converts, often to facilitate a second marriage, since Christianity prohibits divorce, remarriage, and polygamy.

"Why not allow minors to remain in their religion until they reach the age of 18, so they can freely choose their faith?" he questioned. "These Christian citizens live in a tragic situation because the civil registry refuses to restore their Christian identity, preventing them from having a Christian marriage."

As for the solution, Sako urged Muslim authorities and the Iraqi government to address this issue fairly, reaffirming the Church's respect for an individual's right to change their religion with full awareness and freedom. "In Christianity, faith is a personal choice, and the Church takes no action against those who change their religion because faith is proposed, not imposed. Looking back at the origins, we find that the apostasy ruling contradicts the Quran, which states that there is no compulsion in religion and calls for respect toward others," he explained.

Referring to the 2005 Iraqi Constitution, Sako noted that it guarantees full rights for all individuals in terms of freedom of belief and religious practice, stressing the need to address these matters with a spirit of tolerance rather than hatred, citing Turkiye as an example of an Islamic country that has done so.

"Why is a Muslim allowed to become an atheist, while a Christian who was coerced into Islam is not allowed to return to their faith?" he further questioned, citing Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution, which states that no law shall be enacted contradicting human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Iraq's Christian population, one of the oldest in the Middle East, has faced significant decline. Once numbering 1.4 million before 2003, the community now counts roughly 300,000 due to decades of violence, displacement, and targeted attacks.

Iraq: card. Sako (patriarca caldeo), “permettere ai cristiani convertiti a forza all’Islam da Isis e Al Qaeda di tornare a professare la propria fede cristiana”

By AgenSIR - Patriarcato caldeo

13 marzo 2025

Un appello per “rendere giustizia a tutti quei cristiani che sono stati costretti, con minacce di morte, a convertirsi all’Islam da membri di al-Qaeda o dell’Isis e che vogliono tornare a professare la loro fede originaria senza per questo essere dichiarati apostati”.
A lanciarlo è il patriarca caldeo di Baghdad, card. Louis Raphael Sako, raccogliendo le testimonianze di alcuni di questi fedeli.
“Queste persone hanno confermato di essere state forzate e che non hanno nessuna educazione religiosa islamica. La loro adesione all’Islam, di cui non sanno nulla, è frutto solo di costrizione” spiega al Sir il cardinale, ribadendo quanto già espresso in una sua nota diffusa attraverso i canali patriarcali.
“La legge – aggiunge il patriarca – vieta loro il ritorno alla fede cristiana anche se la Costituzione irachena del 2005, all’articolo due prevede che non può essere emanata alcuna legge che sia in conflitto con i diritti umani e le libertà fondamentali sanciti dalla stessa Carta. Inoltre, la Costituzione garantisce il pieno diritto di tutti gli individui alla libertà di credo e di culto”.
Si tratta di un divieto che risale alla tradizione islamica e che, secondo Mar Sako, “confligge anche con lo stesso Corano che proclama la non costrizione nella religione e il rispetto per gli altri”. “Ci sono versetti nel Corano che attestano che non esiste costrizione nella religione – sottolinea il patriarca caldeo – e che non sono soggetti alla dottrina dell’‘abrogante e dell’abrogato’ (utilizzata nell’esegesi coranica, ndr.) e dunque sempre validi”. “Questi cristiani costretti alla conversione all’Islam continuano a vivere nelle loro famiglie di origine che ben conoscono la situazione dei loro congiunti. Gli sforzi di questi ultimi per tornare ad essere registrati come cristiani sono vani perché, come detto, la legge lo vieta. Per questo non possono, per esempio, contrarre un matrimonio cristiano. Ecco perché la legge deve essere cambiata”.
Da qui l’appello di Mar Sako alle Autorità musulmane e al Governo iracheno “affinché studino la questione e trovino una soluzione concreta”.
Come Chiesa, ricorda il cardinale, “rispettiamo la scelta di chiunque di cambiare consapevolmente e liberamente la propria religione da professare nella vita quotidiana, frutto di convinta adesione e non di costrizione. Nel cristianesimo la fede è una libertà personale, e la Chiesa non prende alcuna decisione contro coloro che si convertono ad altre fedi e credenze. La religione non deve essere imposta”. “Siamo nel XXI secolo, la società e la cultura sono cambiate. Queste tradizioni dovrebbero essere rilette con una mentalità più aperta e illuminata, e questi casi dovrebbero essere affrontati in uno spirito di tolleranza e non di odio, come hanno fatto molti paesi islamici, tra cui, ma non solo, la Turchia”.

Iraqi archbishop ‘categorically denies’ lawsuit claims

By The Pillar

March 7, 2025

An Iraqi Catholic leader has strongly denied an allegation of complicity in the 2014 kidnapping of a businesswoman, after a lawsuit filed this month in a U.S. court.

The complaint, filed Feb. 13 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, alleges that Archbishop Bashar Warda “facilitated, through his connections to Iran-backed militias such as Rayan al Kildani’s Babylon Brigades, the scheme to extort, kidnap, torture, and attempt to kill” the plaintiff, Sara Saleem.

An authorized representative for Warda, the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Erbil, told The Pillar March 5 that “the archbishop categorically denies and rejects these defamatory allegations and will contest them vigorously in the appropriate forums.”

The 56-page lawsuit, filed Feb. 13, names Warda among 16 defendants it accuses of varying degrees of involvement in efforts to undermine the business interests of Saleem, an Iraqi-born U.S. citizen of Kurdish descent. The complaint demands a jury trial, seeking a judgment against the defendants with an award of damages.

The complaint says that Saleem, a Sunni Muslim, was kidnapped in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Sept. 8, 2014, and held captive for a month, during which she was tortured. Iraq faced considerable upheaval at the time as the Islamic State group gained territory, increasing sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims.

Saleem says she was targeted after she took out a $100 million loan from the Trade Bank of Iraq with her business partner Nizar Hanna Nasri, as well as his brothers Nameer Abdo Nasri and Ramiz Nasri, to fund a housing construction project near Basra. The three men, known collectively as the Hanna brothers, are Assyrian Christians based in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Saleem alleges that her kidnapping followed her refusal to make a $2 million donation to Ahmed al-Maliki, the son of Iraq’s then-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, both of whom are named as defendants. She says her kidnapping was organized by the Iran-backed terrorist group Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, with assistance from Hezbollah.

Her kidnappers took her to Baghdad where, the lawsuit says, she escaped on the 43rd day of her abduction. She sought refuge in the presidential palace, as she considered Fuad Masum, a fellow Kurd and Iraq’s president at the time, an ally. She says that members of Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq and Hezbollah targeted the palace, but she was able to flee to safety in the Kurdistan region and return to the U.S.

When she returned to Iraq three years later, she was engulfed in a complex legal battle that included lawsuits filed against her by the Hanna brothers, who she began to suspect of involvement in her kidnapping.

In 2021, Saleem filed a criminal complaint with the Iraqi authorities about the kidnapping. In March 2022, Saleem and the Trade Bank of Iraq jointly filed a criminal complaint against the Hanna brothers regarding the loan. According to the U.S. lawsuit, an Iraqi court convicted the Hanna brothers of criminally defrauding Saleem in July 2023, sentencing them to three years in prison.

The lawsuit alleges that Archbishop Warda interceded for the brothers with Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, “passing along a bribe to Barzani on the Hanna brothers’ behalf” and persuading him to secure the brothers’ release ahead of a retrial. The brothers were released on bail in November 2024 and acquitted in February by Iraq’s Chief Justice Faiq Zidane.

The lawsuit mentions Warda 16 times, alleging that he is a “close associate” of Rayan al-Kildani (Rayan the Chaldean), the head of Iraq’s Babylon Movement political party, who clashed publicly with Cardinal Louis Raphaël I Sako before the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church left Baghdad in 2023 for nine months.

The complaint also accuses the archbishop of being an associate of Qais al-Khazali, an Iraqi politician and founder of Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, who is also named as a defendant.

The lawsuit doesn’t offer an in-depth explanation of its claims against Warda, including the claim of complicity in the 2014 kidnapping.

Warda, a member of the Redemptorist order, is a well-known figure among Catholics worldwide due to his extensive travels to raise awareness of the plight of Iraq’s Christians.

The number of Christians has declined dramatically, from around 1.5 million at the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 to roughly 150,000 today. The Chaldean Catholic Church, one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome, is the largest of Iraq’s Christian communities.

Warda, 55, visited the White House in 2018 for a ceremony in which President Donald Trump signed the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act into law.

The Chaldean Catholic Church hierarchy has been hampered by divisions in recent years.

Cardinal Sako said in September 2024 that he had filed a canonical complaint against several Chaldean bishops, including Warda. Sako had previously criticized the Chaldean bishops for skipping a July 2024 episcopal synod, which bishops are ordinarily required by canon law to attend, and an August 2024 spiritual retreat.

In a November 2024 interview with The Pillar, Warda addressed claims that he is close to Rayan al-Kildani, who was added to a U.S. Treasury Department sanctions list in 2019.

He said: “I am not a politician, I am a bishop, and as such my door is open to everyone.”

“Of course, it should be said that Rayan al-Kildani works in Baghdad, not in Erbil, politically he is completely outside of my region.”

“But people should know that I have welcomed, and will welcome, anyone, because the role of the Church is to be a bridge of peace and reconciliation. Throughout history, and especially recent history, the Catholic Church has played a role in really creating an atmosphere of reconciliation, and as far as I know there was no Vatican decree listing names of people the Church cannot deal with internationally or locally.”

Warda added: “If a person or a group is acting in a wrong way, then I have to be able to say so. But if I shut the door, then to whom would I say it? If they did anything wrong, I have the right to say that what is happening is wrong.”

EWTN News documentary chronicles Iraq’s Christian history and ISIS impact

By Catholic News Agency
Georgena Habbaba

March 1, 2025

Marking 10 years since ISIS swept into Mosul and the towns of the Nineveh Plain, EWTN News, in collaboration with its sister agency covering the Middle East and North Africa, ACI MENA, has released a documentary delving into the roots of Christianity in Iraq, its history dating back nearly 2,000 years, and how Christians there have survived despite attempts to erase their presence.

Through a dialogue with Father Mazin Mattoka, president of the Monastery of the Martyrs Mar Behnam and Marth Sarah, a Syriac Catholic monastery in northern Iraq, the documentary showcases some of the monastery’s history, dating back to the fourth century A.D., including its sculptures and historical murals, many of which were destroyed by ISIS, especially the crosses.

In the documentary, Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda of the Chaldean Archdiocese of Erbil highlights what he calls the ongoing “dialogue of life” between Christians and Muslims since the late seventh century with the arrival of the conqueror, and the role Christians played in enriching the Arab civilization by translating texts of philosophy, mathematics, medicine, and other Greek sciences, first into Syriac and then into Arabic.

The archbishop discusses the choices ISIS put before Christians: Convert to Islam, pay the jizya (protection tax), or leave, noting that while paying the jizya might have been acceptable in the eighth century, it is no longer the case in the 21st century.

Archbishop Benedictus Younan Hano of the Syriac Catholic Archdiocese of Mosul highlights the suffering of Christians from forced displacement and their deep pain from feeling marginalized in their country, without a place of refuge, unprotected, feeling betrayed and let down as they lose their towns, homes, and churches, becoming refugees in their own nation.

In the film, Hano clarifies that ISIS’ targeting was not limited to Christians but affected all components of Iraq — everyone was at risk and subject to persecution.

Several Christians from the Nineveh Plain provide testimonies in the film of their painful experiences during ISIS’ occupation and during the series of events that followed the 2003 incidents, which created a political, social, and religious vacuum that allowed armed groups with extremist ideologies to occupy that space, as explained by former member of the Iraqi Parliament Khalis Esho.

Several young volunteers who served the displaced in Ankawa-Erbil during the crisis share their experiences and lessons in the film as well.

Father Raed Adel, head of the Syriac Catholic Churches in Mosul, recalls Pope Francis’ courageous historic visit to the city in 2021, attributing the active reconstruction movement to that visit.

For his part, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, the Chaldean patriarch, expresses the relief and great hope that Pope Francis’ visit instilled in all Iraqis, noting: “It was three days free from attacks and problems, and everyone followed the visit with joy.”

In the documentary, Sako also emphasizes the importance of solidifying the state of citizenship to enhance trust in the future and ensure human rights, justice, and equality.

The new documentary briefly covers some of the scars left by the events of 2014, still deeply etched in the Christian villages and towns, but according to witnesses and leaders in the film, these places remain vibrant with life and filled with the remaining Christians who are rooted in their faith and homeland, proud of their heritage, steadfast and clinging to the land of their ancestors, determined to rebuild, develop, and continue to be beacons of light in the darkness.

Iraq moves to reclaim Christian properties

By Shafaq News

February 27, 2025 

Christian citizens in Iraq persist in reporting property seizures by influential groups, highlighting an ongoing crisis that the government has struggled to resolve for over two decades.

Despite government initiatives, activists warn that property confiscations persist. Legal expert Bahaa Al-Tamimi told The New Arab that authorities failed to prosecute offenders. “The law is clear on property rights, but the government has shown little willingness to confront those responsible,” he said.

A senior Justice Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged the complexity of the issue and stated that efforts are ongoing to restore seized properties and prevent further violations. The ministry is coordinating with other state institutions and security agencies to ensure protection.

To this end, the Iraqi Cabinet Affairs and Committees Department in the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers launched, on Feb. 27, an electronic form dedicated to receiving complaints from Christian citizens and other social groups regarding violations of their properties in the provinces of Baghdad and Nineveh.

The General Secretariat confirmed that this step is based on the recommendations of the committee responsible for protecting the properties of these groups.

Earlier, Iraqi Minister of Justice Khalid Shwani met with Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Gewargis III Younan of the Ancient Church of the East to discuss safeguarding Christian properties. The Ministry of Justice affirmed in a statement that specialized committees had been formed to oversee real estate transactions, particularly for Christians living abroad, and new directives have been issued to reinforce legal protections.

Patriarch Younan welcomed these efforts, but concerns remain about their effectiveness given past failures to curb property seizures.

There is no official record detailing the value of properties taken or transferred from citizens. However, experts estimate that the value of state-owned assets seized by various political factions since 2003 exceeds $20 billion, including numerous buildings and sites. At the time, the US Coalition Provisional Authority authorized these properties to be occupied by parties involved in the political process after the American invasion.