Pope urges Chaldeans to keep faith
ROME -- Pope Benedict urged Iraqi Catholics yesterday not to be discouraged and to continue working for peace and reconciliation.
Benedict made the appeal during an audience with the patriarch of Chaldean Catholics, Emmanuel III Delly, and other bishops from the Chaldean church at the end of their week-long meeting in Rome.
The Pope said he wanted to send Iraqi Catholics a special word of encouragement and prayer "so that your beloved country, despite the current difficult situation, doesn't get discouraged and continues on the path toward reconciliation and peace."
The patriarch, spiritual leader of the world's estimated 1 million Chaldean Catholics, noted in his comments to the Pope that the synod had to take place in Rome because the war in Iraq did not allow the country's bishops to gather in Ur, the biblical birthplace of the prophet Abraham.
Iraqi Christians number around 800,000 -- about 3% of Iraq's 26 million people. Most belong to the Chaldean Church, an Eastern-rite church that is loyal to the Pope but does not follow the Roman church's Latin rite.
--------------
This is from the Toronto Sun; on Sunday, November 13, 2005.
ROME -- Pope Benedict urged Iraqi Catholics yesterday not to be discouraged and to continue working for peace and reconciliation.
Benedict made the appeal during an audience with the patriarch of Chaldean Catholics, Emmanuel III Delly, and other bishops from the Chaldean church at the end of their week-long meeting in Rome.
The Pope said he wanted to send Iraqi Catholics a special word of encouragement and prayer "so that your beloved country, despite the current difficult situation, doesn't get discouraged and continues on the path toward reconciliation and peace."
The patriarch, spiritual leader of the world's estimated 1 million Chaldean Catholics, noted in his comments to the Pope that the synod had to take place in Rome because the war in Iraq did not allow the country's bishops to gather in Ur, the biblical birthplace of the prophet Abraham.
Iraqi Christians number around 800,000 -- about 3% of Iraq's 26 million people. Most belong to the Chaldean Church, an Eastern-rite church that is loyal to the Pope but does not follow the Roman church's Latin rite.
--------------
This is from the Toronto Sun; on Sunday, November 13, 2005.