Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Baghdad (Agenzia Fides) – On June 5 the first Synod of the Chaldean Church convened by the new Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako, who was elected last January 31 will begin in Baghdad. The agenda of the synodal assembly is more than challenging. Several points on the agenda: the appointment of bishops in several Chaldean bishoprics left vacant in Iraq, the Middle East and in Western Countries; the formation of priests; the final draft of a "law" of the Chaldean Church to be submitted to the consent of the Apostolic See; updating and harmonization of the liturgical rites celebrated unevenly in the various dioceses; the study of concrete measures to curb the phenomenon of migration and encourage Christians to remain in their homeland or to make return.
To invoke the success of the forthcoming Synod, Patriarch Sako asked the dioceses, parishes and Chaldean monasteries all over the world to recite a special prayer during Sunday Mass, after the prayers of the faithful.
The Almighty Father is invoked in order to be helped "to love our Chaldean Church as it is, in all its varieties and differences, in its greatness as its weakness." In front of the "storms" that "blow against the boat in which we find ourselves, " all Chaldean Christians are called to invoke" the power of your Holy Spirit to help us to rediscover your presence in our daily reality, and to arouse in us all vocations needed to build your Church. "
"Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako," says to Fides Agency Father Albert Hisham Zarazeer, head of communications for the Patriarchate of Antioch of the Chaldeans - has maintained his firm intention to convene the next Synod in Baghdad also to give a sign of encouragement to all the people who here are tired of the constant suffering. " (GV) (Agenzia Fides 02/05/2013).
