ICC Note: On Thursday, Iraq’s Chaldean Patriarch Mar Louis Raphael Sako received the cardinal’s red hat from Pope Francis. This is widely viewed as a symbolic strengthening of the unity between Iraq’s and Western churches. Patriarch Sako plans to appoint a priest for the parish in Mosul and to continue working towards reconstruction. He hopes that despite the many challenges facing Christians, they will be encouraged to stay in Iraq and rebuild their lives.   

06/29/2018 Iraq (Asia News) –  Patriarch Sako, what value does a cardinal have for the Church in Iraq?

With this choice Pope Francis wanted to send a strong signal of support to the Eastern Churches. The appointment goes in this direction. It is also a message to Iraqi Christians, for us it means: ‘Even if I cannot come, I am near you, I encourage you to stay and hope, to be patient, commit yourself to changing the situation’. It is an appeal to the Iraqi political class: everyone knows the importance and influence that the Vatican exercises at an international level. Muslims have taken this nomination as a further invitation to reconciliation, dialogue, common commitment to the rebirth of our nation. A choice with a high symbolic value, as the appointment as cardinal of the apostolic nuncio in Syria, Mario Zenari was also at the time.

What are your goals for the near future?

First of all, the unity of Christians, which touches our hearts because of the profound fragmentation that has characterized our Church for a long time. And again, the unity of Iraqis as citizens with equal rights and equal duties, according to the principle of citizenship. Finally, working for a better future starting from material and cultural reconstruction. In this sense it is important to have a greater presence at the level of relations with the Western Church, cultural exchange, the birth of Christian institutes, schools, clinics and hospitals, as is already the case in the other nations of the area (Syria and Lebanon). For too long we felt isolated, so it is important that today we open ourselves up to the world and encourage more and more people from the outside. We need to help this Chaldean Church, which is among the oldest, to be a visible sign through works and projects.

A rebirth that can start from Mosul, a long stronghold of the Islamic State (IS, ex Isis) and where the worst jihadist atrocities have taken place?

Exactly! To revive Mosul, we must rebuild homes and houses, to encourage people to come back. But it is also necessary to rebuild the people, first of all on the psychological and social level, with avenues of integration and discussion. Lastly, guarantee work, facilitating the resumption of commerce, industry, trade and micro-businesses along with local crafts.

What is the current situation in the city?

There is still a lot of destruction, but among Muslims themselves there is a new impulse to begin again, to react to the disasters of ISIS. It is necessary to educate people to open up, to guarantee the respect of the laws, to favor education and to avoid extremist drifts in matters of faith.

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