VATICAN - SYNOD OF CHALDEAN BISHOPS MEETING IN THE VATICAN WILL ELECT NEW PATRIARCH OF BABYLON

Tuesday, 2 December 2003

Vatican City (Fides Service) – From 1 –3 December the Synod of the Chaldean Catholic Bishops convoked by Pope John Paul II is meeting in the Synod Hall in the Vatican to elect a new Patriarch of Babylon, spiritual leader of Chaldean Catholics who resides in Baghdad. The Synod was convoked in keeping with the Code of Canon Law for Oriental Churches canon 72 § 2. The new Patriarch will replace His Beatitude the late Mar Raphael Bidawid I who died on 7 July 2003 in Lebanon, after a long illness.
The Holy Synod of the Chaldean Catholic Church met in August but failed to elect a new Patriarch. At present Bishop Shlemon Warduni is Apostolic Administrator of the Patriarchate of Chaldean Catholics in Baghdad. Since the death of the former Patriarch, pastoral ministry has been co-ordinated by two Auxiliaries Bishop Emmanuel-Karim Delly and Bishop Andraos Abouna.
22 Chaldean Catholic Bishops are present at the meeting in the Vatican, coming from Iraq and several other parts of the world where there are Diaspora communities, Middle East, Europe, United States, Australia.
Iraqi Christians are 800.000 in all, equal to 3 % of the population: 70% Chaldean Catholic, about 500-600,000, the remaining 30% Orthodox Christian. The largest Catholic community, about 350,000, is in Baghdad,.
The Chaldean Catholic Church serves mainly providing catechesis, education and assistance to poor families, Muslim as well as Christian. The official Chaldean liturgical language is Aramaic but the people speak mainly Arabic so both languages are used at Mass. A Chaldean Catholic Church Procura to the Holy See was instituted in Rome in 2000. In all Chaldean Catholics in the world today are about 1 million. (PA) (Fides Service 2/12/2003 lines 30 words 282)


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