ASIA/IRAQ - Iraqi Parliament rejects the appointment of Christian Hana Emmanuel as minister for refugees and migrants

Wednesday, 19 December 2018 middle east   oriental churches   politics   religious minorities  

ankawa.com

Baghdad (Agenzia Fides) - The House of Representatives of Iraq, called to express itself on the appointment of three ministers chosen by Premier Adel Abdul Mahdi to complete his cabinet of government, rejected the candidacy of Christian Hana Emmanuel Gorgis at the helm of the Ministry for immigration and refugees. Among the 276 deputies present at the parliamentary session, even 4 of the 5 elected representatives in the 5 parliamentary seats reserved for Christian minorities chose not to grant their trust to the Christian minister candidate.
Regarding the controversial candidacy of Ms. Hana Emmanuel Gorgis, the Chaldean Patriarchate on Monday, December 17 released a note - published by the website ankawa.com - to respond to "some politicians" who had expressed comments judged "irresponsible, provocative and without any moral decency" regarding alleged "interference by the Church in political matters".
The Church - we read in the patriarchal note - has always been interested in social problems "for the good of people and the protection of their rights and their dignity". The text recalls that "Pope John Paul II condemned the war against Iraq", while Pope Francis "visited Burma and defended the Rohingya Muslims. When the Church intervenes in public affairs - continues the statement released by the Chaldean Patriarchate - it is never for private interests" and does not want to replace civil institutions, but only intends to collaborate in promoting justice and respect for the rights of every human being.
In this difficult phase of national history, the text released by the Patriarchate recalls that Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako "spared no effort" with the intention of "favoring the rebirth of Iraq", also intervening in international organizations and institutions, or showing his support for the appointments of competent people even when they did not belong to political formations linked to Christian communities. In view of the birth of the new government - the patriarchal text reports - the Chaldean Patriarch highlighted three names of competent persons as potential members of the Council of Ministers. Then Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi indicated Ms. Hana Emmanuel as a potential minister for refugees and migrations, knowing full well that such an indication would be submitted to Parliament's placet. "The Church" repeats the document "does not want to interfere in any way in the confrontation and in political and party conflicts, but the Chaldean Patriarchate, within the responsibility that it has, is willing to work for the good of all Iraqis". (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 19/12/2018)



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