‘Your presence is a mission’ says new Chaldean Catholic head to Iraq’s faithful

THE new leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church has pledged to do everything in his power to strengthen its presence in its historic homeland.

Patriarch Paul III Nona was officially installed on Friday (29th May) during a solemn ceremony in the Cathedral of St Joseph, Baghdad, Iraq.

Leaders of other Christian Churches, representatives from the Vatican and Iraqi government figures attended the installation of the Patriarch, who was elected by the Holy Synod of the Chaldean Church, the largest Christian Church in Iraq and one of 23 Eastern Churches in full communion with Rome.

Highlighting the difficulties that have led many Iraqi Christians to leave the country over the past decades he said that both those who remain in Iraq and those in the diaspora have an important mission – and the survival of the Church is paramount.

In his homily – a copy of which was sent Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) –  he went on: “The existence and continuity of our Chaldean Church in the East, and most especially in Iraq, are essential and foundational for our perseverance as a Church and as an ancient people with a deep-rooted history and civilization. 

“We shall do all that lies within our power to strengthen this presence in our homeland of Iraq and throughout the countries of the East…

“Our sons and daughters in Iraq and in the East – you are the salt of our Church and of this land. Your presence here is a true mission and a testimony to the enduring continuity of our Church in her native and original homeland.”

Until 2014, Patriarch Paul III was the Archbishop of Mosul, but fled, along with the entire Christian community, when the Nineveh Plains were overrun by Daesh (ISIS). He then spent 11 years shepherding the Chaldean diaspora in Australia and New Zealand.

He told the crowd that the diaspora who fled abroad to escape Daesh should see their situation as a “grace not as a misfortune” adding: “Look upon your presence in these lands as a mission. You are sent to reaffirm the importance and the power of faith in societies that are all too ready to lose it.”

Reaching out to other communities including the Assyrian Church of the East, “and all others besides” such as the Armenian and Syriac Churches, he said: “The existence of Churches with differing traditions is a richness and not a deficiency. Our faith is one, and our witness must likewise be one.

“What unites us ought to be the foundation of our relations with one another, for we are not distant islands separated from one another, but varied pieces within a magnificent mosaic that gives one comprehensive and beautiful form to the faith. 

“No Church can live in isolation from the other Churches, and no single Church can contain everything within herself.”

Addressing multiple groups in his address, including priests and seminarians, he had a special word to say to young people who, he said, were the “strength and vitality” of the Church.

He added: “I know that our young people thirst for faith and long to understand the great questions they carry concerning what they believe and concerning life itself. 

“At the same time, they possess a powerful capacity to change and to transform their lives when they trust, when they are heard, and when they are truly listened to in the effort to answer their questions. Then they become deeply active in the Church, steadfast in hope, and courageous in proclaiming the faith.

“What our youth need today is for us to make known to them that they possess a distinct identity within their faith and that they are not merely believers in a general sense. 

“Their faith must be presented to them as something deeply rooted in the living tradition so that they may come to perceive their own uniqueness and distinction.”

Iraq continues to be a priority for ACN, having provided more than £28 million in emergency aid between 2014-2018 for thousands who sought sanctuary in Erbil after the 2014 Daesh invasion.