Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, Patriarch and head of the Chaldean Church, has publicly announced his decision to resign from the patriarchal see in Baghdad and move to Istanbul, where he wants currently found «in a church, a mission, in one of the monasteries in Iraqi Kurdistan». The notice was sent by email to the Aid to the Church in Need Foundation and was published in Arabic on the official site of the Patriarchate Chaldean. The cardinal is responding to “all the fatal events” and to the “deliberate and humiliating campaign” against him in recent days, in particular the “President’s decision to withdraw the decree from me, which has no precedent in the history of Iraq.” “. , he said, Sako said.
Head of State Abdul Latif Rashid has decided to revoke the recognition of Jalal Talabani, who had recognized the cardinal as patriarch and head of the Chaldean Church, and responsible for of church property. The election was justified with the lack of constitutional recognition. “The withdrawal – said Rashid – does not affect the religious or legal status of Patriarch Sako.” For the latter, however, the president’s act was an act “against the Christian community, which has suffered greatly”. On Monday, the cardinal wrote to the president asking him to change his decision, otherwise he would have filed a lawsuit. The dispute is otherwise justified the latest chapter in a series of attacks against the most authoritative and respected figure in Iraq’s Chaldean Church. So much so that in recent weeks the voices of many Christians have been raised to denounce a series of lies that have been circulated against the cardinal.