Latest news with #ChaldeanChurch
Shafaq News
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Cardinal Sako criticizes Christian political representation in Iraq
Shafaq News/ Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, the Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, described the political representation of Christians in Iraq as "incorrect" and called for reforms to ensure better representation. In a statement on Wednesday, Sako considered the upcoming elections, scheduled for October 2025, as a crucial moment for Iraqis to exercise their constitutional right to vote. He urged citizens, particularly Christians, to update their voter registration and obtain voter cards to participate fully in the elections. "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 Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds in the federal government to help us regain our representation, role, and rights,' Cardinal Sako pointed out, suggesting limiting the vote for the Christian quota seats to a separate voter registry, allowing Christians to choose 'those they believe are capable of serving their country and serving them." The Cardinal also reaffirmed the Chaldean Church's commitment to supporting any efforts that serve the nation and its citizens, 'ensuring justice, security, and peace, and offering all available resources to the service of Iraq.'
Shafaq News
15-03-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Iraq's Cardinal Sako: Some Christians are living tragically
Shafaq News/ 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.
Telegraph
08-03-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Sacred Mysteries: Unveiling the Evensong of Mesopotamia
It's an intriguing title. The Book of Before & After sounds like a novel by Philip Pullman. In fact it is a translation of the liturgy of the hours of the Church of the East. The reference is to the Psalms and hymns recited day by day before and after the stable core of Psalms sung at evening and morning prayer. The translation is by the enterprising American-born Chaldean Catholic priest working in California, Father Andrew Younan. If this rings a bell, don't stop reading on that account, because my mention of him a few weeks ago was in connection with another book: the poetic sermons of Narsai, the 5th-century saint active on the present border of Syria and Turkey. But an obvious interest of the ancient liturgy used by the Chaldeans (who are in communion with the Pope) and by the Assyrians (who are not), and indeed by the Syro-Malabarese Catholics of Kerala, is its use of a dialect of Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke. The church that grew up beyond the eastern borders of the Roman Empire was not under the thumb of the Emperor, yet supported generations of scholars who preserved and translated ancient Greek philosophy, notably that of Aristotle, much of whose works were lost to the West for centuries. The importance of liturgy – worship by the Church – is that it expresses beliefs in a more vital way than credal formulae. It conveys things about God and his involvement with humanity that cannot be said by theology. The difference is greater than that between the rules of football and a game of football. In translating these acts of worship, Fr Younan is anxious to help prevent the Chaldean Catholic Church in America, which is now lively and numerous, from losing its identity. There is a well-meaning tendency to make Chaldean Sunday services less demanding by adopting Westernised music and style. 'This is, in my experience, an easy way out that will be suicidal in the long run,' he told the admirable religious journalist Luke Coppen in an interview for The Pillar website. 'If the Chaldean Church ends up feeling just like a Latin Church, then why not just go to a Latin Church?' The liturgy of the hours in the Church of the East bears similarities to Morning and Evening Prayer in the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer. More Psalms are chanted, and the numbering of them agrees in part with the Hebrew version (and the CofE) and half with the Greek version (and the Latin rite). The oriental flavour comes mostly from the music (illustrated in an accompanying online resource), and from the earnest, elevated and repeated prayers. The day starts (as in Hebrew worship) in the evening. Evening prayer begins and ends with the Our Father, ornamented with internal doxologies ('Holy, holy, you are holy; our Father in heaven...'.) In the middle of evening prayer comes the Lakhu Mara, at the lighting of lamps, with the refrain: 'We give you thanks, O Lord of all, we glorify you, Jesus Christ; you raise our bodies into life, you are the Saviour of our souls.' It also includes the Trisagion, borrowed from the most ancient Greek liturgy and in use in the Latin liturgy of Good Friday: 'Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One: Have mercy on us.' Absent from the liturgy is any statement of the heresy known as Nestorianism. Indeed in Sunday Evening Prayer, Jesus, the name given to the child born of Mary, is addressed as Creator. He is both God and man, as the Catholic and Orthodox churches agree.
Shafaq News
08-03-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Cardinal Sako unveils Ur's identity blend
Shafaq News/ Religion does not erase identity, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, head of the Chaldean Church in Iraq and worldwide, revealed on Saturday. Speaking during the Way of the Cross Mass at Ibrahim Church in the city of Ur, Al-Nasiriyah, Sako highlighted that around 1,000 Shi'ite individuals in the city identify as Chaldeans and have established a Chaldean cultural center. He also described the group's identity as a positive example of cultural openness. 'We take pride in our history and our Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Arab civilization—all of it.' According to the church statement, Sako offered prayers for Pope Francis' recovery, marking the fourth anniversary of the pontiff's visit to Ur. The Mass was attended by Bishop Basilios Yaldo, the Patriarchal Assistant, along with members of the Council of Religious Orders, priests from Baghdad, and clergy from the Diocese of Basra.
