Chaldean Church Hopes to Mediate Release of Hostages in Iraq

Zenit News Agency ^ | April 21, 2004

[NYer]

ROME, APRIL 21, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The Chaldean Church is trying to mediate in the release of three Italian hostages in Iraq, according to Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni of Baghdad.

"The patriarch, the patriarchate and I myself are trying to do something to rescue the hostages, which has nothing to do with the drama of the war," the bishop told Vatican Radio today.

"But things are going very slowly," he said. "For the time being we can say nothing ... [as] it would damage the situation."

Fabrizio Quattrocchi, one of the kidnapped Italians, was slain last week. There is no clear information on the identity of the group that kidnapped the civilians, who worked for a U.S. security firm.

Last Friday, Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, expressed the Holy See's willingness to mediate in favor of all those kidnapped in Iraq, should those involved request it.

About 70% of the Christians in Iraq, some 800,000, are part of the Chaldean Church.

[NYer]

Chaldean Catholic Church

Today the largest concentration of Chaldean Catholics remains in Baghdad, Iraq. There are ten Chaldean dioceses in Iraq, four in Iran, and four others in the Middle East. The Chaldean (or East Syrian) liturgy is in use, with the addition of a number of Latin customs. The liturgical language is Syriac.

There are now two Chaldean Catholic dioceses in the United States.

The Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle of the Chaldeans was establshed in 1982, and is under the leadership of Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim (25585 Berg Road, Southfield, Michigan 48034). It has five parishes in the Detroit area and two in Chicago.

The Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle of the Chaldeans in San Diego (established in 2002) has six parishes in California and one in Arizona, and is headed by Bishop Sarhad Jammo (1627 Jamacha Way, El Cajon, California 92019).

The Patriarchal Vicar for Chaldean Catholics in Australia and New Zealand, who have two parishes in the Melbourne and Sydney areas, is Msgr. Zouhair Toma, who resides at 66-78 Quarry Road, Bossley Park, NSW 2176. In other areas of the diaspora, Chaldeans are under spiritual supervision of the local Latin ordinaries.

LOCATION: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, France, USA
HEAD: Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly (born 1927, elected 2003)
TITLE: Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans
RESIDENCE: Baghdad, Iraq
MEMBERSHIP: 323,000

[NYer]

Mar Emmanuel III Deli

On 22 January the newly-elected Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Mar Emmanuel III Deli, offered a letter of appreciation to the officials of the Iraqi Governing Council in Baghdad . In the letter His Beatitude writes: “I thank you and wish you success for the work done for our people and our Iraqi brothers.” Mar Emmanuel continues to say that with the effort of these officials Iraq can once again establish itself in the world community.

In his letter, His Beatitude desires greater unity among Iraqis and asks the officials to promote stability, security, and prosperity for the people of Iraq .

Mar Emmanuel then continues to write: “I promise you…that we are ready to cooperate in order to establish a better Iraq , that will be an example in the areas of religious, political, cultural and social freedom for all her sons without exception”.

Mar Emmanuel qualifies “We” by continuing to say: “We, the Chaldoassyrian Christians, owners of the Syriac culture and language for many millennia, have worked together with our Muslim, Yezidi and Sabbean brothers with our hearts and soul.” Mar Emmanuel is the first head of a Syriac-speaking church to personally endorse the title of “Chaldo-Assyrian” in Iraq in an official capacity.

Mar Emmanuel concludes his letter by saying “We demand the recognition of our legitimate religious, cultural, social

Catholic Ping - let me know if you want on/off this list

[Cronos]

I don't understand why Chaldeans and LAtins can unite but Latins and other Orthodox can't

[netmilsmom]

>>Today the largest concentration of Chaldean Catholics remains in Baghdad, Iraq<<

I could have sworn they were in Sterling Heights, MI!
Great people. My six year old had 4 Chaldean children in her first grade class.
At the Christmas party, the girls tried to teach me how to say, "I'm cute!" in Iraqi. I never quite got it.