By The Pillar
May 15, 2025
May 15, 2025
In a situation that’s gained widespread attention in Iraq, Chaldean Catholic leader Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako has denied giving a controversial media interview in which the cardinal allegedly disclosed details of the papal conclave, including the claim that one cardinal accidentally submitted two ballots in a round of voting.
Sako told The Pillar Wednesday that an Iranian-backed militia was spreading misinformation about him, the cause of a social media maelstrom that has engulfed the cardinal since soon after the conclave concluded.
Sako told The Pillar Wednesday that an Iranian-backed militia was spreading misinformation about him, the cause of a social media maelstrom that has engulfed the cardinal since soon after the conclave concluded.
Controversy began in Iraq soon after a May 9 telephone interview between Sako and the Arabic-language Charity Radio TV, which is run by Maronite missionaries in Lebanon.
In the interview, the Iraqi cardinal — patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church — seemingly described the voting process at the May 7-8 conclave.
In the course of the interview, Sako is heard explaining the way in which support grew for electing Pope Leo XIV during the course of the conclave.
But as the interview proceeded, Sako also disclosed an apparent procedural irregularity in one round of voting. “There was a mishap: one of the cardinals placed two ballots into the box. There were 133 cardinals in total — two were absent due to illness — so the total became 134 ballots found,” Sako apparently said.
The ballots were apparently stuck together, Sako appeared to recount, recalling that the cardinal who submitted them said it was a mistake, with Sako seeming to suggest that the accidental ballot had been left blank, and thus did not materially impact the process “But no one paid it much attention,” the cardinal apparently told interviewers, before moving on to discuss his personal interactions with Prevost, and his hopes for the pope’s approach to Eastern Catholics.
When it aired May 9, the interview became immediately controversial in Iraq — with both Catholics and non-Catholic Iraqis taking to social media to criticize it.
At issue, according to several sources, was that Sako was seen to have improperly disclosed the confidential deliberations of the conclave.
And because the cardinal was the first Iraqi to participate in a conclave in centuries — something that had been widely celebrated in Iraqi media in the weeks prior — critics said his disclosures were a source of shame for the Chaldean Catholic Church, and for Iraq itself.
While in recent weeks, numerous cardinals have given interviews discussing elements of the conclave, despite official canonical obligations of secrecy, Sako was one of few to face public pushback for it.
But Sako now claims not to have given the interview at all. Amid widespread pushback, Sako issued a statement May 11, saying that accounts attributed to him about the conclave “are false,” and that the cardinal had not “given any written or visual interviews since May 9.”
In fact, “the only article about the conclave, which he proudly wrote about his experience, was positive and is posted on the patriarchate website,” said the May 11 statement.
According to multiple sources in the Chaldean Catholic Church, Sako’s statement was widely understood to be a denial that he had actually given the May 9 Charity Radio TV interview — effectively, a claim that the interview was a kind of digital manipulation or fabrication.
And as the cardinal faced more pushback for that claim, he issued another statement May 12, entitled “Evil will never win.”
In that text, Sako claimed he was the victim of “strangely organized campaigns of provocation on social media platforms, using vulgar language that lacks taste, decency, accuracy, and truth.”
“This evil will not last, because only good is true and lasting,” the cardinal added.
In the interview, the Iraqi cardinal — patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church — seemingly described the voting process at the May 7-8 conclave.
In the course of the interview, Sako is heard explaining the way in which support grew for electing Pope Leo XIV during the course of the conclave.
But as the interview proceeded, Sako also disclosed an apparent procedural irregularity in one round of voting. “There was a mishap: one of the cardinals placed two ballots into the box. There were 133 cardinals in total — two were absent due to illness — so the total became 134 ballots found,” Sako apparently said.
The ballots were apparently stuck together, Sako appeared to recount, recalling that the cardinal who submitted them said it was a mistake, with Sako seeming to suggest that the accidental ballot had been left blank, and thus did not materially impact the process “But no one paid it much attention,” the cardinal apparently told interviewers, before moving on to discuss his personal interactions with Prevost, and his hopes for the pope’s approach to Eastern Catholics.
When it aired May 9, the interview became immediately controversial in Iraq — with both Catholics and non-Catholic Iraqis taking to social media to criticize it.
At issue, according to several sources, was that Sako was seen to have improperly disclosed the confidential deliberations of the conclave.
And because the cardinal was the first Iraqi to participate in a conclave in centuries — something that had been widely celebrated in Iraqi media in the weeks prior — critics said his disclosures were a source of shame for the Chaldean Catholic Church, and for Iraq itself.
While in recent weeks, numerous cardinals have given interviews discussing elements of the conclave, despite official canonical obligations of secrecy, Sako was one of few to face public pushback for it.
But Sako now claims not to have given the interview at all. Amid widespread pushback, Sako issued a statement May 11, saying that accounts attributed to him about the conclave “are false,” and that the cardinal had not “given any written or visual interviews since May 9.”
In fact, “the only article about the conclave, which he proudly wrote about his experience, was positive and is posted on the patriarchate website,” said the May 11 statement.
According to multiple sources in the Chaldean Catholic Church, Sako’s statement was widely understood to be a denial that he had actually given the May 9 Charity Radio TV interview — effectively, a claim that the interview was a kind of digital manipulation or fabrication.
And as the cardinal faced more pushback for that claim, he issued another statement May 12, entitled “Evil will never win.”
In that text, Sako claimed he was the victim of “strangely organized campaigns of provocation on social media platforms, using vulgar language that lacks taste, decency, accuracy, and truth.”
“This evil will not last, because only good is true and lasting,” the cardinal added.
The Pillar contacted Sako May 14 for clarity about the controversy.
In response to questions about the May 9 interview, Sako told The Pillar by email that he had not given it at all. “I had several positive interviews [in Rome], but not in Iraq nor in Arabic,” he wrote.
The cardinal claimed that the confusion was caused by the Babylon Brigade, an Iranian-backed militia affiliated with Iraqi strongman politician Rayan al-Kildani, with whom Sako has publicly feuded for years.
“Babylon [Brigade] militia is since the beginning against me because of my position against corruption, sectarianism, and other things,” the cardinal wrote. “Therefore it published false informations about the conclave, which I did not [say], Sako added. Sako did not explain how an interview aired in which he seemed to participate, if he did not actually give the interview, or how the Iraqi Babylon Brigade might have co-opted Real Charity TV, which could itself not be reached for comment.
In response to questions about the May 9 interview, Sako told The Pillar by email that he had not given it at all. “I had several positive interviews [in Rome], but not in Iraq nor in Arabic,” he wrote.
The cardinal claimed that the confusion was caused by the Babylon Brigade, an Iranian-backed militia affiliated with Iraqi strongman politician Rayan al-Kildani, with whom Sako has publicly feuded for years.
“Babylon [Brigade] militia is since the beginning against me because of my position against corruption, sectarianism, and other things,” the cardinal wrote. “Therefore it published false informations about the conclave, which I did not [say], Sako added. Sako did not explain how an interview aired in which he seemed to participate, if he did not actually give the interview, or how the Iraqi Babylon Brigade might have co-opted Real Charity TV, which could itself not be reached for comment.
