Cardinal Louis Raphaël I Sako, leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.
Baghdad, Iraq, Aug 26, 2021 / 04:15 am (CNA).
The Synod of the Chaldean Catholic Church has agreed to drop the word “Babylon” from the official title of its Iraq-based patriarchate.
A statement issued after a synod meeting in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Aug. 9-14 said that the Chaldean Patriarchate of Babylon would now be known simply as the “Chaldean Patriarchate.”
“After discussion and deliberation, the Fathers unanimously agreed to adopt the name ‘Chaldean Patriarchate’ instead of the Patriarchate of Babylon over the Chaldeans, and they enthusiastically expressed their pride in their Chaldean identity,” the communique said.
The synod voted to change the patriarchate’s name because the term “Babylon” lacked a sound historical basis, reported Agenzia Fides, the information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies.
Babylon was the capital of the ancient Babylonian Empire. The remains of the city, believed to have been the largest in the world at its height, are located south of Baghdad, on the banks of the Euphrates river.
Babylon is mentioned in the Bible, notably in the Book of Revelation.
Agenzia Fides quoted the patriarchate as saying that Babylon “was the capital of the Babylonian Empire, and it was never an episcopal or patriarchal seat and is now an Iraqi Muslim city.”
The Chaldean Catholic Church is one of 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See. It has more than 600,000 members living mainly in Iraq but also in diaspora communities around the world.
The Church is overseen by a patriarchate based at the Cathedral of Mary Mother of Sorrows in Baghdad. The current patriarch, Cardinal Louis Raphaël I Sako, has led the Chaldean Catholic Church since 2013.
In a 2019 letter to Pope Francis, Sako said that the Chaldean Church “has always been a church of martyrs throughout its history.”
The pope highlighted the sacrifices of Chaldean Catholics during his historic visit to Iraq in March.
Speaking at the Chaldean Catholic Cathedral of St. Joseph in Baghdad on March 6, he referred to the love that Christ showed on the Cross.
He said: “That same love made the martyrs victorious in their trials — and how many martyrs have there been in the last century, more even than in the past!”
The Chaldean Catholic Church traces its roots to the Apostolic Era but took on its present historical form in the 16th century when members of the ancient Church of the East affirmed their communion with Rome.
The Holy See recognized Joseph I as the patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church in 1681. But “Babylon” was only included in the patriarch’s title from 1724. It was first used by Patriarch Joseph III, who lived in Diyarbakir in modern-day Turkey, said Agenzia Fides.
The patriarchate moved to its present location in Baghdad in the 20th century.
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Pope Francis embraces a man in a wheelchair at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on June 10, 2015. / L’Osservatore Romano.
Vatican City, Nov 25, 2021 / 10:00 am (CNA).
In his message for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Pope Francis said that the Catholic Church needs the participation of everyone, and the disabled must not be excluded from the sacraments.
“As we celebrate your International Day, I would like to speak directly to all of you who live with any condition of disability, to tell you that the Church loves you and needs each of you for the fulfillment of her mission at the service of the Gospel,” the pope said on Nov. 25.
Quoting his 2013 exhortationEvangelii gaudium, he said: “The worst form of discrimination … is the lack of spiritual care.”
“Sometimes, as certain of you have unfortunately experienced, this has taken the form of denying access to the sacraments,” he said in his message.
“The Church’s magisterium is very clear in this area, and recently the Directory for Catechesis stated explicitly that ‘no one can deny the sacraments to persons with disabilities.’”
The theme of Pope Francis’ message for the day is friendship with Jesus, which he said is “an undeserved gift” that all have received and that can help those experiencing discrimination.
Friendship with Christ “redeems us and enables us to perceive differences as a treasure. For Jesus does not call us servants, women and men of lesser dignity, but friends: confidants worthy of knowing all that he has received from the Father,” he said.
Antonietta Pantone, 31, a Rome resident who uses a wheelchair, told journalists it was clear to her from the pope’s message that he considers it important that people with disabilities be part of the Church and not leave the Church.
She shared her personal journey of faith, which included finding a community in the Christian disability group Fede e Luce.
Pope Francis meets with Foi et Lumière members on Oct. 2, 2021. Vatican Media/CNA
Fede e Luce is the Italian branch of the French association Foi et Lumière (known as Faith and Light in the English-speaking world), which began 50 years ago with a pilgrimage for people with disabilities to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France. The movement has now expanded to five continents.
“I always say: In the eyes of God, we are all equal,” Pantone said, noting that in her journey of faith, friendship has been fundamental.
Friendship with others “demonstrates the closeness of God,” she said.
Pantone also explained how losing physical contact with friends because of the COVID-19 pandemic has been very hard for her and other disabled people, especially her friends who live in residences and not with family.
In his message, Pope Francis addressed the difficulty of the coronavirus outbreak for the disabled.
“I think, for example, of your being forced to stay at home for long periods of time; the difficulty experienced by many students with disabilities in accessing aids to distance learning; the lengthy interruption of social care services in a good number of countries; and many other hardships that you have had to face,” he wrote.
He mentioned in particular those who live in residential facilities, separated from loved ones. “In those places, the virus hit hard and, despite the dedication of caretakers, it has taken all too many lives,” he said.
He also emphasized the importance of confronting these challenges by finding consolation in prayer and friendship with Jesus.
“I would like to speak personally to each of you, and I ask that, if necessary, your family members or those closest to you read my words to you, or convey my appeal,” he said. “I ask you to pray. The Lord listens attentively to the prayers of those who trust in him.”
“Prayer is a mission, a mission accessible to everyone, and I would like to entrust that mission in a particular way to you. There is no one so frail that he or she cannot pray, worship the Lord, give glory to his holy Name, and intercede for the salvation of the world. In the sight of the Almighty, we come to realize that we are all equal,” he stressed.
Pope Francis also noted the continued presence of discrimination, ignorance, and prejudice at all levels of society, assuring people with disabilities that through baptism they are “a full-fledged member of the Church community, so that all of us, without exclusion or discrimination, can say: “I am Church!’”
“The Church is truly your home!” he said.
At a Nov. 25 press conference, Fr. Alexandre Awi Mello said that the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life is trying to do more to improve pastoral care for those with disabilities.
“This message, in recognizing that people with disabilities have their place in the holy faithful People of God, is a great invitation, for us in the dicastery, but above all for parish, diocesan and associative realities to take new paths with pastoral creativity,” Awi Mello said.
Fr. Alexandre Awi Mello, secretary of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, speaks at a Vatican press conference, May 18, 2021. Gianluca Teseo/CNA.
“It is a door that opens to think of pastoral care no longer for, but with…”
On Dec. 6, the dicastery will launch a video campaign with the hashtag #IamChurch. In five videos, Catholics with disabilities from different parts of the world will share about their experiences in the Church.
Pantone, who participated in one of the Vatican’s videos, told CNA that she would like to see the Catholic Church do more to develop courses that allow people with all kinds of disabilities to participate in parish life, such as formation courses to become a catechism teacher.
“I still had some ways to study [to become a catechist],” she said, “but it depends on the type of disability, so if another disabled person wants to be a catechist, the Church should give him all the appropriate tools.”
Pantone said that the Church can do a lot for the disabled, but the recently begun Synodal Journey “is already a step forward which the world of disability sees positively.”
Pope Francis said in his message that “having Jesus as a friend is an immense consolation. It can turn each of us into a grateful and joyful disciple, one capable of showing that our frailties are no obstacle to living and proclaiming the Gospel.”
“In fact, a trusting and personal friendship with Jesus can serve as the spiritual key to accepting the limitations that all of us have, and thus to be at peace with them,” he said.
Some members of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) meet with the minister of state, secretary-general at the presidency. / Courtesy: President of the Republic of Cameroon
ACI Africa, Aug 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
The minister… […]
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