The newly installed head of the Chaldean Catholic Church has pledged to strengthen the Christian presence in Iraq and the wider Middle East, as decades of conflict, persecution, and migration continue to shrink one of the world’s oldest Christian communities.
Patriarch Paul III Nona made the commitment during his installation May 29 at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Baghdad, where Church leaders, Vatican representatives, and Iraqi officials gathered for the ceremony.
In his homily, the patriarch described the Church’s continued presence in Iraq as vital to its identity and survival, according to a report by Aid to the Church in Need.
“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,” he said.
“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,” he added.
He also encouraged Christians who remain in Iraq, telling them: “Your presence here is a true mission and a testimony to the enduring continuity of our Church in her native and original homeland.”
Patriarch Paul III previously served as archbishop of Mosul but fled with the city’s Christian population when Daesh, also known as ISIS, overran the Nineveh Plains in 2014. He later spent 11 years leading Chaldean communities in Australia and New Zealand.
Addressing members of the Iraqi diaspora, he urged them to see their displacement as a mission rather than a loss.
“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,” he said.
The patriarch also called for greater unity among Eastern Christian Churches, saying: “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.”
Aid to the Church in Need said Iraq remains a priority country for the charity, which provided more than £28 million in emergency assistance to displaced Christians following the 2014 Daesh invasion.
