ASIA/IRAQ - Chaldean Patriarch Sako to Christian politicians: unite forces and strategies, free yourselves from sectarianism

Tuesday, 25 May 2021 middle east oriental churches politics sectaniarism religious minorities elections

IRAQ

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Baghdad (Agenzia Fides) - Iraqi acronyms and political parties encouraged by Christian activists must bring together the forces, strategies and policies to tackle together the emergencies and problems that weigh on the life of local Christian communities. Otherwise, their activism "in no particular order" will end up contributing to the slow erosion of the Christian presence in Iraq. The appeal comes from Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, who in a speech with an alarming tone directly criticized the ways in which militants and aspiring Christian political leaders are moving in view of the next national political elections, scheduled for October 10, 2021. In his appeal, broadcast by the official channels of the Chaldean Patriarchate, the Patriarch also offers his willingness to convene a meeting between politicians and civic groups that refer to the various Christian communities, to initiate convergences and establish coordination tools in view of the upcoming electoral appointment. In his speech, the Patriarch reiterates, among other things, that the difficulties for Iraqi Christian communities increased after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. Since then, "organized criminal groups" with external connections have committed kidnappings, abuses of power, intimidation, illegal expropriation of property and massacres against Iraqi Christians. This pressure compounded by the violence suffered by jihadist groups such as Daesh, which have pushed hundreds of thousands of Christians to expatriate to Western countries. Faced with this scenario - the Patriarch deplores - the activity of many aspiring Christian politicians appears to be characterized by lacerating political competition and waste of energy, with clashes between factions and fierce disputes between those who seem to be also on the hunt for money and positions of power. Some of the parties with Christian leaders and militants - the Primate of the Chaldean Church points out - have become small and large centers of fanaticism, focused exclusively on the effort to annihilate their political rivals within the Christian communities themselves. Avoiding lacerations and internal political clashes - comments the Patriarch - would be useful to effectively protect the right of citizenship of Christians, to "save what can be saved". But unfortunately - the Iraqi cardinal laments - restricted private interests and a desire for personal affirmation make many Christian politicians unable to take initiatives aimed at protecting the general good of the communities to which they belong and of the entire nation. "The number of Christian candidates in the next elections has already reached 34" – says the Patriarch - and this is the confirmation of the degree of factionalism and the consequent fragmentation" that characterizes the political initiatives of Christians in Iraq. Cardinal Sako recalls in this regard that the current Iraqi electoral system reserves five seats (out of a total of 325) in Parliament for Christian communities, before which the Parties animated by Christian leaders and militants would have done well to "sit together and agree on a list of five people" in which the votes unanimously converge. As the Chaldean Church - Patriarch Sako clarifies, at the conclusion of his speech - "we are willing to contribute and participate without any intention of substituting political parties". In the recent past (see Fides 16/5/2019), Patriarch Sako had already stigmatized on several occasions the fragmentation of political acronyms encouraged by Christian leaders and militants, pointing out that also thanks to these internal lacerations, the Iraqi political parties with more power had also managed to place their own emissaries in the parliamentary seats reserved for representatives belonging to the Christian component. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 25/5/2021)