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At the invitation of His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako
the annual Synod of the Chaldean Catholic Church was held at the Patriarchate
Headquarters in Al-Mansour / Baghdad from 22 through 26 August 2022, attended
by bishops (listed below) of the dioceses in Iraq, Middle East and countries of
diaspora:
Absent from the meeting for health reasons and others, are:
Ibrahim Ibrahim – Bishop Emeritus of Michigan – USA
Jacques Isaac – Patriarchal Vicar, Emeritus
Sarhad Jammo – Bishop Emeritus of San Diego, USA
Gabriel Kassab – Bishop Emeritus of Australia and New Zealand
Rabban al-Qass – Bishop Emeritus of Dohuk
Bawi Soro – Bishop Emeritus of Canada
Francis Kalabat – Bishop of Detroit – USA apologized due to travel
control related to Corona pandemic.
His Beatitude commenced the first morning session by praying to the Holy
Spirit, followed by a speech, in which Patriarch Sako addressed the most
important events and challenges facing the Church at home and abroad. He
stressed the importance of working together as “one” team to serve the Church,
shedding the light on forming the clergy (including priests and deacons) and
watching over them with paternal “care” rather than authoritarian. Patriarch
Sako focused also on Bishops’ duty in being committed precisely to the
liturgical texts confirmed by the Holy See. He urged them as well to preserve
the Chaldean identity in choosing the right name for their dioceses and
parishes, except for the parishes whose people are mostly Assyrian Catholics.
Finally, Patriarch Sako brought to their attention the compulsion of supporting
the Chaldean League to help it playing its role for which it was founded.
The assembled Synod Fathers sent a letter to His Holiness Pope Francis,
affirming their appreciation for his historic visit to Iraq (5-8 March 2021),
which is still alive in the memory of all Iraqis. Bishops expressed their
determination to have the Chaldean Church “as a whole” playing a vital role in
preparing for the Synodal assembly in 2023 by encouraging all the people of God
to participate in the life of the Church.
Bishops also sent an appeal to Iraqi politicians to form an honest and
strong civilian government that would enhance the culture of citizenship. They
paid a visit to His Excellency Dr. Barham Salih, the President of the Republic
of Iraq at the Peace Palace.
The Synod Fathers studied the topics listed in their timetable for
discussion and the measures they took are mandatory for the Chaldean Church:
The Political and Economic Situation. They presented the general
political, social, economic situation and immigration in Iraq and the countries
of diaspora. As a result, they agreed to establish a “Chaldean Solidarity
Fund”, to which Chaldean dioceses contributed directly a total of $220,000 (two
hundred and twenty thousand US dollars), leaving the door opened for the donors
to play their role in supporting this project. Assembled Bishops agreed also to
dedicate Church collection / offerings of the third day of “Nineveh Baoutha”
for this purpose as well. The Synod nominated 3 bishops to follow up on this
project (Bashar Warda, Yousif Thomas Mirkis and Paolo Thabet Habeeb) working
together with lay experts to present a comprehensive study on monitoring funds,
its development, and granting aid to dioceses or ecclesiastical
institutions…etc based on their needs.
Situation of the Dioceses and Pastoral Affairs. Each Bishop shared the
statistics of his dioceses including: number of its faithful, number of
priests, their biography, as well as monks, nuns, evangelical deacons, and
seminarians to be included in the annual directory of the Chaldean Church.
Bishops also touched on the pastoral challenges they face, especially the
consequences of Corona pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war, in addition to
the unstable political situation in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon… They focused in
particular on the phenomenon of increasing immigration and the urgent need for
priests to watch over our faithful in diaspora. On a related subject, they
called upon Iraqi officials to fully preserve civil rights of Christians.
Church Sacraments Service for Free. Synod Fathers agreed to have free
service of Church Sacraments in all Iraqi dioceses, except for what faithful
offer for the Mass, which should go to the diocese’s financial department. They
also agreed to set the salaries of the Patriarch, Bishops and Priests in Iraq
as follows: the patriarch and bishops $1,050 US dollars (that is, one million
six hundred thousand Iraqi Dinars) and the priests $850 US dollars (that is,
one million and two hundred fifty thousand Iraqi Dinars). They expressed their
support for needy people and parishes.
Babel College of Philosophy and Theology: His Beatitude suggested the
following to administrate the college: Sister Sana Hanna (Daughters of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus), Dean of the College, Father Ephrem Gilyana (Director of
the Seminary) as Vice Dean and Sister Caroline Saeed Jarjis (Daughters of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus) Director of the related Institute of the Christian
Education. Patriarch Sako thanked the previous dean, Bishop Yousif Thomas
Mirkis for his service in the past years.
Private Law. Bishop Felix Al- Shaby presented a draft of “special law”,
in which he included the reforms sent by the Congregation of Eastern Churches.
The Fathers discussed and their comments were taken into account. Patriarch
Sako will send the final corrected version to the Eastern Council for
confirmation.
Liturgical reform. The Fathers reviewed the process of implementing the
rites confirmed by the Holy See in all their dioceses, and promised that
everyone would adhere to them strictly. These are: Mass orders, including the
rite of Saint Thomas (His Beatitude shared Cardinal Leonardo Sandri’s letter
confirming this order), baptism, matrimony and the formula of confession “robe”
according to the Eastern tradition. Additionally, the Chaldean Patriarchate has
recently worked on printing a new and elegant version of the liturgical book
for Sundays, feasts and saints’ day readings, as well as the book of daily
readings. Moreover, Patriarch Sako encouraged Bishops to translate these
liturgical books into the languages spoken in their dioceses. He also advised
that priests and deacons should wear a traditional ܨܪ ܚܨܐ
on the priestly robe, instead of (currently used) rope. The Fathers also
approved the inclusion of the Greek Fathers in the new calendar and to correct
the misunderstanding of the sequence of Elijah and Cross seasons: so that, the
fourth Sunday of Elijah will be the first Sunday of the Cross, and so on… There
was a note also on unifying the chant “Heyah” in all dioceses, instead of
“Hinga (which is used in Alqosh only)”. His Beatitude suggested to change few
“typos” in the book of Mass Orders (the large Red book), for example:
In page. 9, order of Mar Addai and Mary, within the paragraph of “prayer
before the readings”, to replace the word “Your commandments” with “your word”.
In page 81, order of St. Thomas the Apostle, within the paragraph of
“the second bow prayer” to replace “O our King and our God…” with “O our God
and our King”.
New Bishops for Tehran, Urmia, and Turkey. Synod Fathers discussed the
situation of Alqosh Diocese and unanimously took a decision to assign His
Beatitude Patriarch Sako to follow up on this issue, especially, after the
accident of Bishop Michael Makdassi on the first day of the Synod, resulted in
a fracture in his thigh. Regarding Syria, a further year was extended for
Bishop Antoine Audo.
Synodal Procession. Synod Fathers discussed the role of Chaldean Church
in the preparation for the 16th General Assembly of Bishops Synod entitled
“Towards a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission,” which will be
held in Rome in October 2023, at the invitation of Pope Francis,
In conclusion, His Beatitude showed gratefulness and appreciation for
the bishops’ effective and responsible discussions during the Synod. Together,
they call upon their daughters and sons to strengthen their faith in God,
enhance their hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, reinforce their trust in their
pastors and be around them in order that our Church will have a living, renewed
parade and to remain as a witness and martyr forever.
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