Iraq: incontro tra il cardinale Delly e il leader del partito sciita
Sept 30, 2008
Un plauso agli sforzi che il governo iracheno sta compiendo per promuovere sicurezza e stabilità nell’intero Paese.
(Radio Vaticana, 24/09/2008) È questo il messaggio che il patriarca caldeo, cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, ha rivolto martedì ad Abdul Aziz al-Hakim e Ammar al-Hakim, presidente e vice presidente del Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), il partito sciita che ha il più alto numero di seggi nel parlamento iracheno. Come spiega l’agenzia Sir, durante l’incontro, avvenuto in un momento in cui si denunciano sempre maggiori intimidazioni ad opera delle milizie islamiche nei confronti dei cristiani, sono stati ricordati i legami storici che il Paese ha con la comunità cristiana.
Christen sollen Irak nicht verlassen
Sept 28, 2008
Der chaldäisch-katholische Patriarch, Kardinal Emmanuel III. Delly, hat an die Christen in seinem Land appelliert, nicht auszuwandern. "Unsere Vorväter haben schwierigere Zeiten ertragen und überwunden", sagte der Patriarch dem deutschen Magazin "Focus". "Niemals unterstütze ich das Verlassen des Irak", betonte der Kardinal-Patriarch: "Wir bleiben hier bis zum Ende".
Bagdad, 28.9.08 (KAP) Emmanuel III. Delly forderte die EU-Staaten auf, die irakischen Christen so zu unterstützen, dass sie in ihrem Land bleiben können und nicht "in anderen Ländern Almosen verlangen" müssen. Zugleich verlangte er, dass die in Deutschland lebenden Iraker eine Arbeitsgenehmigung erhalten. "Denn wer gegangen ist, kommt nicht mehr zurück", so der Kardinal.
Die katholische Kirche in Deutschland plädiert für eine Aufnahme von Angehörigen verfolgter religiöser Minderheiten (Christen, Jeziden, Mandäer) aus dem Irak in Deutschland. Dabei geht es nach den Worten des Vorsitzenden der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz, Erzbischof Robert Zollitsch, nicht darum, die irakischen Christen zur Emigration zu verlocken. Vielmehr sollten schutzlose Flüchtlinge in den Erstaufnahmestaaten Syrien oder Jordanien, eventuell auch innerhalb des Iraks, humanitäre Hilfe erfahren.
Dinner highlights plight of Iraqi Christians, honors Baghdad cardinal
Sept 21, 2008
The plight of Iraqi Christians in the chaotic wake of the war in Iraq has, in some places, become quite desperate. After meeting with two Chaldean bishops who explained the intensity of the situation, Deal Hudson decided to get the message out by honoring Cardinal Emmanuel Delly of Baghdad with the 2008 Partnership Award.
Washington DC, Sep 19, 2008 / 06:00 pm (CNA).- On Friday evening, InsideCatholic.com and the Crisis Institute will hold their 13th Annual Partnership Dinner in honor of Cardinal Mar Emmanuel III Delly, the Archbishop of Baghdad, thus also recognizing the ongoing struggles of Iraqi Christians.
In an interview with CNA, Hudson explained that his concern over the circumstances of Iraqi Christians was already growing when he received an unexpected phone call requesting that he meet with Bishop Mar Mawai Soro and Bishop Sarhad Jammo, two bishops from the Chaldean Catholic Church.
After meeting with the two bishops, Hudson realized that one way to bring to attention the struggles and persecution that Iraqi Christians are experiencing, would be to honor their courage and sacrifices at the Partnership Dinner.
Although, Cardinal Emmanuel Delly is being awarded the honor, he is unable to attend because of sandstorms in Baghdad, which prevented traveling. Hudson is anticipating around 230 people to attend, including the Iraqi ambassador to the U.S., Samir Shakir al-Sumaydi.
Bishop Jammo, who was a very close personal friend of Archbishop Paulos Rahho, will be paying tribute to the martyred prelate in a speech at the dinner.
The dinner will also be hosting the premier of a 17 minute film on Iraqi Christians produced by Robert Marcarelli, perhaps best known for The Omega Code. Hudson, also explained that a shorter, 7 minute version of the video will be available on Insidecatholic.com.
Cardinal Delly at Archbishop's Funeral Urges Peace
Mar 15, 2008
World Leaders Join in Condemning Death of Kidnapped Prelate.
MOSUL, Iraq, MARCH 14, 2008 (Zenit.org).- A weeping Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly told Iraqis that they must follow a path of peace, as he celebrated today the funeral Mass of Mosul's archbishop, found dead Thursday after having been kidnapped two weeks ago.
Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, 65, was kidnapped after celebrating the Way of the Cross on Feb. 29. His two guards and driver were killed.
Cardinal Delly told mourners: "The people of the church should be self-restrained and patient."
The cardinal said Archbishop Rahho was "brave, deeply faithful to the service of the Church. He spent his life serving the Church honestly and peacefully. He was one of those who died and shed their blood for the sake of duty."
Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni of Babylon of the Chaldeans told L'Osservatore Romano that Christians and Muslims alike are mourning the death of the prelate.
"Christians and Muslims," he said, "are very sorrowful and bereaved, but the hope offered us by the faith supports us in these moments that are so terrible."
Messages of condolence and outrage came from civil and religious leaders around the world, including Benedict XVI.
The Pope's secretary of state said: "The suffering of the Christians is very grave and with this inhuman action, they have arrived to the threshold of desperation, but the hope remains of God's help and the value of the blood of martyrs, which is always a seed of new resources and energies.
"We hope, as the Pope has said in his telegram and as will be repeated in these days, that in the mosaic of such diverse peoples, ethnic groups and religions that make up Iraq, all the positive forces will unite to build a new future for this people so afflicted by this war that does not obtain any results."
Shock and sorrow
Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S episcopal conference, expressed "profound shock and sorrow" on behalf of the U.S. bishops.
In a letter to Cardinal Delly, Cardinal George called the killing "callous" and one which "demonstrates the particularly harsh realities faced by Christians in Iraq and the lack of security faced by all Iraqis."
Cardinal George offered prayers of consolation to the Chaldean Catholic patriarch and for the Church in Iraq, and assured him that the U.S. bishops stood in solidarity with him.
Bishop Crispian Hollis, chair of the Department of International Affairs for the episcopal conference of England and Wales, said: "I join with all those in Iraq and elsewhere who mourn for the archbishop. Archbishop Rahho's abduction and death represent the latest blow against a Christian community that is undergoing an ordeal by persecution, and my prayers and thoughts are with Iraq's Christians, particularly in Mosul, as they struggle to live in faith."
It is still unclear the exact cause of death of the archbishop. He suffered poor health and reportedly needed daily medication. When his body was found Thursday, after a phone call from kidnappers alerting of its whereabouts, he had already been dead for a few days.
Monsignor Raban al Qas, a representative of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, said that the archbishop had not been shot. "We don't know if he was tortured to death, or if he died of natural causes," he said.
U.S. President George Bush added his voice to those denouncing the slaying.
"I send my condolences to the Chaldean community and the people of Iraq on the death of Archbishop Rahho," Bush said. "I deplore the despicable act of violence committed against the archbishop of Mosul. The terrorists will continue to lose in Iraq because they are savage and cruel. Their utter disregard for human life, demonstrated by this murder [...] is turning the Iraqi people against them."
El miedo domina en Irak, afirma el cardenal Emmanuel III Deelly
Dec 26, 2007
Las fuerzas estadounidenses han dicho que ha habido una reducción de 60% en la violencia desde junio.
(milenio.com, 26 de Diciembre de 2007) BAGDAD.– El miedo aún impregna la vida en Irak pese a una reciente reducción en la violencia, dijo el líder espiritual de los católicos iraquíes en una entrevista el lunes, que aprovechó para hacer un llamado a los refugiados a que regresen al país.
Las fuerzas estadounidenses han dicho que ha habido una reducción de 60% en la violencia desde junio, y el incesante sonido de coches bomba y tiroteos que solían llenar los días en el centro de Bagdad claramente ha amainado.
Durante los últimos días del feriado musulmán de Eid al-Adha, Irak parece estar viviendo uno de sus momentos más pacíficos de la invasión norteamericana en el 2003.
Pero la seguridad es aún mala y muchos iraquíes temen alejarse demasiado de sus casas.
Pandillas armadas y milicias merodean las calles de ciudades, coches bomba y atacantes suicidas atacan mercados, patrullas policiales y licorerías, y los cadáveres de rehenes torturados aparecen casi a diario junto a riberas de ríos o en las calles.
“Esperemos que esté mejorando, pero yo pienso que es lo mismo'’, dijo el cardenal Emmanuel III Delly, líder de la ancestral Iglesia Caldea y primer cardenal iraquí, en una entrevista con The Associated Press en vísperas de Navidad.
“Todo el mundo teme salir … a causa de los coches bomba, y otras cosas. Incluso los animales pequeños temen los peligros'’.
Mientras Delly hablaba, una bomba oculta en un minibús estalló a unos pocos kilómetros de distancia, junto a la oficina del gobernador de Bagdad, matando a dos personas e hiriendo a seis.
La explosión no fue escuchada en el custodiado complejo donde vive el cardenal Delly en el oeste de Bagdad.
“Nosotros esperamos que mejore … somos siempre hijos de la esperanza. Nosotros debemos tener esa esperanza, y ser siempre optimistas y no pesimistas'’, dijo Delly.
Los cristianos han sido a menudo víctimas de ataques de extremistas islámicos, forzando a decenas de miles a escapar del país a muchos de los restantes a aislarse tras barricadas y puntos de control.
Menos de 3% de los 26 millones de habitantes de Irak son cristianos, la mayoría de ellos caldeo-asirios y armenios, un con pequeño número de católicos.
New Iraqi cardinal calls for release of Saddam aide
Dec 24, 2007
The spiritual leader of Iraq's Catholics, elevated to the rank of cardinal last month, called on U.S. forces to free Saddam Hussein's ailing former deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz if there was no evidence against him.
BAGHDAD, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Aziz is a Chaldean Christian, Iraq's biggest Christian group, and his presence in Saddam's government was often held up as evidence of the former Iraqi leader's religious tolerance.
In an interview with Reuters on the eve of Christmas, Emmanuel III Delly, the Chaldean patriarch of Baghdad, also called for religious freedom in Muslim Iraq, where many Christians have been kidnapped, killed or forced to flee.
"We have no freedom of religion in Iraq but hopefully that will become the case one day because the Lord created us free and everyone should have freedom of religion," he said.
Aziz is now in U.S. custody and is reported to be in poor health, suffering from diabetes. He is being held without charge and his family has repeatedly called for his release.
"In terms of Tareq Aziz, who has worked so long for Iraq and I am sure still wants good things for Iraq, we have to demand the release of all those who were captured and which have no evidence against them ... as soon as possible," Delly said.
Delly, a critic of the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, said he had tried to visit Aziz, but his request had been turned down.
Iraqi prosecutors say Aziz could face charges in connection with the crushing of the Shi'ite Muslim uprising after the 1991 Gulf War in which tens of thousands died.
WORKING FOR PEACE
At the Nov. 25 ceremony at the Vatican creating Delly, 80, a cardinal, Pope Benedict said the Iraqi's elevation was intended to express the Catholic Church's solidarity with Christians in Iraq. In June the pontiff said he was concerned about the exodus of Christians from the troubled country.
Christians make up about 3 percent of Iraq's 27 million people, according to the U.S. State Department's latest report on international religious freedom. According to a 1987 census there were 1.4 million Christians living in Iraq, but now there may be fewer than 1 million.
A number of Christian clergy have been kidnapped or killed in Iraq, churches bombed or forced to take down their crosses and Christians forced to flee their homes.
At his guarded compound in western Baghdad, Delly, wearing his cardinal's red robes and a black hat, preached brotherly love in a land where sectarian violence between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims has killed tens of thousands.
"Love between all brothers is present, but they must love each other more and more, they need to work together in one mind and one heart for the prosperity of Iraq," he said, sitting next to a colourfully decorated Christmas tree.
Delly said all Iraqis had suffered equally in the sectarian violence that has ravaged the country, toning down previous criticism of Iraq's Shi'ite Islamist leaders, whom he accused in May of staying silent while Christians were persecuted.
"There are absolutely no violations against Christians because they are Christians. This is something that is against Iraq and Iraqis. There are many Christians who were forced to flee Iraq but an even greater number of our Muslim brothers too."
He said five Christian churches in the southern Baghdad district of Doura, a Sunni militant stronghold, were still closed. Christians there were told to convert, flee or be killed, the U.S. State Department report said.
"God willing, (the Christians) will return," Delly said. (Writing by Ross Colvin, Editing by Matthew Jones)
Nouveau cardinal irakien : « Nous sommes fils de l’espérance »
Nov 29, 2007
Entretien avec le card. Emmanuel III Delly, patriarche de Babylone des Chaldéens.
ROME, Mercredi 28 novembre 2007 (ZENIT.org) - « Nous sommes fils de l’espérance. Nous devons être optimistes. Le Seigneur nous protégera, il est notre Père et nous aime », a déclaré Emmanuel III Delly, patriarche de Babylone des Chaldéens, à la veille du consistoire au cours duquel le pape l’a créé cardinal, samedi dernier.
Vendredi après-midi, avant la deuxième session de la rencontre de réflexion des cardinaux du monde entier avec le pape, le patriarche chaldéen a répondu aux questions des journalistes.
« Je suis venu [à Rome] recevoir cet honneur que le Saint-Père a bien voulu m’accorder : me créer cardinal pour l’Eglise universelle, a-t-il affirmé. Je remercie la divine providence, je remercie de tout cœur le pape, je vous remercie tous, et surtout toux ceux qui ont prié pour moi et qui aujourd’hui encore continuent à prier pour moi et pour mon pays bien-aimé, l’Irak, ce pays martyrisé depuis quelques années. Que le Seigneur lui accorde la paix, l’amour, la charité et le pardon des uns pour les autres ».
A la veille du consistoire, Benoît XVI a confié personnellement au cardinal Delly qu’il espérait que cette nouvelle nomination soit un signe de réconciliation pour l’Irak, un pays qu’il aime tant, a précisé le patriarche. Ces paroles, le pape les prononcera également dans son homélie de samedi, lors de la célébration du consistoire.
Aussi le patriarche chaldéen a-t-il voulu faire savoir que le gouvernement de son pays avait accueilli avec une grande satisfaction sa nouvelle nomination. Une nomination qui n’est pas concédée « à ma pauvre personne », a-t-il souligné, « mais à tous les Irakiens », dans et hors de la nation.
« Cette dignité doit être utile non seulement à l’Irak, mais à tous nos chers amis à travers le monde, à l’humanité entière », souhaite-t-il.
Lors de cette rencontre avec les médias, le patriarche chaldéen était accompagné de l’évêque auxiliaire du patriarcat chaldéen à Bagdad, de l’évêque de Mossoul, de l’ambassadeur d’Irak près le Saint-Siège et de la ministre irakienne (chrétienne) pour les Droits civils, à la tête de la délégation de son pays (formée de chrétiens et de musulmans ) à l’occasion du consistoire. La rencontre avait été organisée par le père Philip Najim, procureur de l’Eglise chaldéenne près le Saint-Siège.
Evoquant les souffrances de l’Irak, sa Béatitude Emmanuel III Delly a précisé : « Ce qui arrive aux chrétiens arrive également à nos frères musulmans, et ce qui arrive à nos frères musulmans nous arrive à nous aussi chrétiens ».
« Nous avons vécu ensemble pendant 14 siècles, nous entretenons des relations » ; « c’est vrai, il arrive que les chrétiens aient parfois à souffrir davantage, pour différentes raisons », « mais les attentats à la voiture piégée tuent autant les musulmans que les chrétiens » a-t-il ajouté.
Le patriarche a réaffirmé la nécessité de promouvoir l’amour entre les populations irakiennes et d’instaurer la paix dans le pays, invitant la communauté internationale à y apporter sa contribution.
« Je lance une invitation au peuple irakien, en reprenant les paroles de Notre Seigneur - a-t-il ajouté - : nous devons nous aimer les uns les autres, et pas seulement le peuple irakien mais toute la population ; j’en appelle ainsi à la bonne volonté pour pouvoir instaurer la paix dans le monde entier et par ces paroles je consacre tout mon être au service de l’Eglise et de ma patrie ».
Revenant ensuite sur sa nouvelle fonction de cardinal, le patriarche a expliqué : « Je suis venu pour servir, et non pour être servi » ; « nous sommes au service de l’Eglise universelle, pas seulement au service de l’église irakienne, dont je suis le patriarche, le guide et le père, mais au service de toute l’Eglise » ; « tout ce que j’ai donné à mon peuple je continuerai à le donner ; j’aime ma patrie, je la sers: pour moi tous les Irakiens sont égaux. Je ne fais pas de distinction entre chiites, sunnites, chrétiens ou kurdes ».
La délégation irakienne venue à Rome, a-t-il précisé, est formée de ces groupes et de membres de toutes les ethnies de son pays.
« Cela veut dire qu’en Irak, nous sommes encore dans un pays uni et je continuerai à le servir de toutes mes forces, jusqu’à la dernière goutte de mon sang », s’est-il exclamé.
Interrogé sur un certain retour au calme en Irak en ce moment, le cardinal Delly a fait savoir qu’à Bagdad « certaines familles sont rentrées à Dora, le quartier chrétien de la ville, et que son auxiliaire est allé, la semaine dernière, célébrer une messe dans une église jusqu’ici fermée ».
« C’est un début qui, nous l’espérons, continuera à faire du bien à notre peuple et à tout le monde », car les églises ne sont pas les seules à avoir été attaquées ; « tous les lieux de culte » l’ont été, notamment 138 mosquées.
« On est en train de reconstruire les églises et les habitants regagnent leurs domiciles. Nous sommes les enfants de l’espérance, a-t-il affirmé, nous devons être optimistes ; le Seigneur nous protègera, il est notre Père et il nous aime » .
Le cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, âgé de 80 ans, a en projet de « rentrer en Irak et de continuer à servir son pays », mais surtout , a-t-il dit, « de convaincre, au gré de ses voyages, tous ceux qui ont quitté l’Irak de rentrer au pays pour travailler ensemble à sa reconstruction ».
Delly to Iraqis: "Come Home"
Nov 25, 2007
In a press conference earlier today, the Baghdad-based patriarch of the Chaldeans Cardinal-designate Emmanuel III Delly said he'd seek the return of Iraqi Christians who've fled the "tortured" country.
Whispers in the Loggia, Friday, November 23, 2007
Delly to Iraqis: "Come Home"
In a press conference earlier today, the Baghdad-based patriarch of the Chaldeans Cardinal-designate Emmanuel III Delly said he'd seek the return of Iraqi Christians who've fled the "tortured" country.
Speaking at a news conference, the 80-year-old patriarch described his elevation to cardinal as a honour for "all Iraqis and not just Christians."
Karim-Delly said he had assured Iraqi leaders he would continue to use his position "to convince those who have left Iraq to return and help build the country."
The mostly Chaldean Christians still living in Iraq are now estimated to number 600,000 compared to the 1.2 million living in the country before Saddam Hussein's 2003 overthrow.
The Baghdad patriarch said he had recently discussed with members of Iraq's Shiite Muslim-dominated government measures on safeguarding Iraq's Christian community, which makes up around 3 per cent of the population.
Pressed by a reporter for details on the measures discussed the patriarch chose not to answer, but said the situation in "tortured Iraq" was gradually improving.
He also said several churches forced to shut down because of the sectarian violence had recently reopened their doors to the faithful.
Karim-Delly in the past has denounced what he called the "persecution" of Christians in Iraq, but on Friday he was more reconciliatory towards the Baghdad government.
Iraqi leaders had given him "full support" as shown by a government delegation headed by Human Rights Minister Wijdan Mikhail Salim, herself a Chaldean, who will attend Saturday's ceremony.
"He has done all Iraqis proud," said the minister, who was also at Friday's news conference.
As the lone oriental church hierarch to receive the red hat tomorrow, Delly will be the highest-ranking member of the 23 new cardinals, in terms of seniority in the college.
By decree of Paul VI, Eastern patriarchs are numbered among the cardinal-bishops, the six senior members of the papal senate who are honorarily given title to the suffragan sees of Rome. While every Latin-rite cardinal is given the care of a Roman church -- in token of the college's place as the historic descendants of the city's first clergy -- the patriarchs simply hold the title of the church over which they preside.
Pope says new Iraqi cardinal a sign of 'spiritual closeness'
Nov 25, 2007
Popes rarely speak out loud their reasons for making a particular prelate a cardinal, but Pope Benedict XVI broke that informal taboo today with regard to Patriarch Emmanuel II Delly of the Chaldean church in Iraq.
Pope says new Iraqi cardinal a sign of 'spiritual closeness'
All Things Catholic by John Allen
Created Nov 24 2007
Popes rarely speak out loud their reasons for making a particular prelate a cardinal, but Pope Benedict XVI broke that informal taboo today with regard to Patriarch Emmanuel II Delly of the Chaldean church in Iraq.
“How can we not look with apprehension and affection, in this moment of joy, to the dear Christian community in Iraq?” the pope said during his homily at this morning’s consistory ceremony.
“These brothers and sisters of ours in the faith are experiencing in their own flesh the dramatic consequences of a long-lasting conflict, and are living today in an extremely fragile and delicate political situation,” the pope said.
“By calling the Patriarch of the Chaldean Church to enter into the College of Cardinals, I wanted to express in a concrete way my spiritual closeness and my affection for this population. We wish together, dear and venerable brothers, to reaffirm the solidarity of the entire church with the Christians of that beloved country. We invite and invoke the merciful God, for all the peoples involved, that the longed-for reconciliation and peace may come.”
The pope's references to Iraq brought three rounds of applause from those gathered in St. Peter's Basilica.
Twenty years ago, Iraq had an estimated Christian population of 1.4 million, one of the largest in the Muslim world. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, however, Iraqi Christians have been caught in a three-way squeeze created by political instability, economic collapse and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, with the result being what some analysts call a Christian “exodus” out of the country.
In 2005, estimates were that more than 40 percent of all refugees fleeing Iraq were Christian. Today, the conventional figure is that at least one-quarter, and perhaps as much as one-half, of Iraq’s Christians have left the country. Those figures do not take into account Iraqi Christians who are internally displaced.
As one example of the pressures facing Iraqi Christians, a Catholic priest and three subdeacons were gunned down in front of their church in Mosul, Iraq, last June. The priest, Ragheed Aziz Ganni, had studied at Rome’s Gregorian University, and two years earlier he had described the suffering of Chadlean Catholics in Iraq during a presentation at a Eucharistic Congress in Bari, Italy: “The terrorists hope to kill us physically, or at least spiritually, making us deny ourselves out of fear. Because of the violence of the fundamentalists against young Christians, many families have fled.”
(In a moving footnote, a Muslim professor at the Gregorian who had befriended Ganni, named Adnan Mokrani, wrote a letter to his murdered friend, expressing anguish: “In the name of which god did they kill you? In the name of what paganism did they crucify you?... Did they really know what they were doing?” he asked.)
Keeping Christianity alive in Iraq
Nov 20, 2007
"Peace for all believers," the congregation at the Sacred Heart church in Eastern Baghdad sings, as the Patriarch, Emmanuel III Delly, holds a heavy cross in his hands, his eyes closed.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN, November 20, 2007) -- Cardinal Emmanuel III says he is confident Christianity in Iraq will flourish again.
He seems focused on the hard work that lies ahead.
Pope Benedict XVI recently appointed the Patriarch of the Chaldean Church for Babylon, an ancient denomination with roots in the age of Jesus Christ, a cardinal.
Emmanuel III is the first Iraqi to be elevated to that status and will receive his ordination on November 24 in Rome.
That means somewhere down the line, Emmanuel III could become Pope.
But the task at hand now is more pressing. The Vatican has charged Emmanuel III with nothing less than keeping Christianity alive in war-torn Iraq, where thousands of Christians, most of them Chaldeans and Assyrians, have fled the country and hundreds have been killed.
Iraq's Christian Community is shrinking fast and the bloodletting becomes clear even at the Cardinal's service at the Sacred Heart Church.
The room is only half full with those who have braved the danger of an early morning Baghdad commute to pray for peace for their fellow Christians, for Iraq, and for the entire world.
Some of them were in tears as they sang songs of hope in this time of despair.
"In the last few years there was an increase in the number of the cases of kidnapping, robbery, theft, killing, car bombs and explosive devices, and that scared so many," the cardinal told reporters at an interview at the Chaldean Church's headquarters in western Baghdad.
The cardinal's residence is a simple bungalow structure and the visitors' room is almost bare -- a wall carpet depicting Jesus Christ on the cross is practically the only decoration.
"A gift from Iran," the Cardinal's assistant says with a smile as we wait for Emmanuel III to arrive.
The 80-year-old cardinal is only about 1.6 meters (5ft 3in) tall, and his body seems frail as he moves slowly across the room, but his eyes are wide-awake and penetrating as he gleams through his large gold-framed glasses.
Right from the start he makes it clear, this won't be an interview about Christian hardship in Iraq alone.
"In reality this is a question I don't like very much and I know journalists always ask me that question," he says, a little uneasy.
"What's happening to the Christian is happening to the Muslims as well."
Emmanuel III was born in 1927 in the tiny village Talkif near Mosul in Northern Iraq, where Christians have been practicing their religion for around 2,000 years and some still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus.
"The Christians are natives to this country," the Cardinal says. "Our civilization has been deeply rooted in this country for thousands of years."
In 1946, he went to Rome to study religion. The Italian capital lay in ruins and Delly recalls seeing the destruction caused by World War II, and the human suffering, first hand.
It was during his time in Italy that two of his life's guiding principles evolved: His distaste for war and his deep commitment to dialogue between Christians and Muslims.
Delly wrote his PhD thesis on the relationship between Catholicism and Islam, discussing, "the existence of God according to Abu Nasr Al-Farabi," a Muslim philosopher.
"We are brothers and we have been living together for 14 centuries, all of us need to work together to advance the Iraqi family," Cardinal Delly says, but he realizes things aren't that simple in today's Iraq.
"Even an earthworm, if touched, will cringe fearing it will get hurt," he says in a serious voice as he talks about the thousands of Christians who have fled their homes since Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled in 2003.
At least some of the violence in Iraq today is directed at the country's Christians. Churches have been bombed, priests kidnapped and killed.
Christianity in Iraq is in a fight for survival and Emmanuel III is trying to use his clout to make a difference.
He has lobbied Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki to do more to protect Christians and has held talks with influential Muslim leaders, like the powerful Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani.
"We will do all we can so they can live a good life and enjoy freedom and we hope they will return to the motherland, but if we want them to return, we must carry out giant steps starting now," the cardinal says, moving forward in his chair to emphasize his point.
The "giant steps" the cardinal talks about do not only involve better security for the country's Christians. "We must build factories, small factories, small projects in our villages," he says, emphasizing his belief that not just faith, but prosperity will lead the country out of its current crisis.
"We need to start with a few projects in our villages in the north and south so the youth will stay, and the youth will work so they can earn their living and only then will they come back to the country."
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And Cardinal Emmanuel III says he is confident Christianity in Iraq will make a comeback and flourish again.
His message is a message of hope and reconciliation, which he preaches to those at the service at the Sacred Heart Church in Eastern Baghdad. Many of those singing along have little more than hope left in their lives.
The Prince of Babylon
Nov 06, 2007
Philadelphia might've waited 24 years for John Foley's red hat, but between the rivers in what's now Iraq, generations of the Chaldean Catholic community have stood it out a good bit longer to see their patriarch take a place in the papal senate.
Whispers in the Loggia, Tuesday, November 06, 2007
The Prince of Babylon
Philadelphia might've waited 24 years for John Foley's red hat, but between the rivers in what's now Iraq, generations of the Chaldean Catholic community have stood it out a good bit longer to see their patriarch take a place in the papal senate.
Eighty-one years old, Cardinal-designate Emmanuel III Delly will formally be inducted into the Sacred College at the upcoming consistory. As you can see, however, the patriarch of Babylonia of the Chaldeans is the first of the designates to be photographed in the robes of his new office.
Elected in December 2003 at a hastily-called synod held in the Vatican, the New York Times met up with Delly at his base in Baghdad:
There is neither a cross nor a sign on the heavy metal gate to indicate that this is the official residence of one of the country’s most prominent Christians, the first in Iraq in modern times to be elevated to cardinal by the Roman Catholic Church.
The simple structure, in a dilapidated neighborhood of this capital, opposite empty former ministry buildings, is the home of Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, whom the pope named on Oct. 17 to the College of Cardinals along with 22 others from around the world.
The only outward sign that this compound is Christian is in the garden, where a lawn surrounded by roses and zinnias is watched over by a graceful white statue of the Virgin Mary.
Many of his fellow cardinals come from Latin America, Africa and the Far East, places where Catholic practice is only a few hundred years old. But Cardinal Delly, 81, the patriarch of the Baghdad-based Chaldean Church, comes from Mosul, in northern Iraq, a place where Christian rites have been practiced for nearly 2,000 years.
There, as in Baghdad and other places where members of Iraq’s shrinking Christian population still live, it is possible to attend a Sunday Mass sung in Aramaic, one of the Semitic languages spoken at the time of Jesus.
“Christians and Muslims have lived together here for 1,400 years,” Cardinal Delly said in an interview. “We have much in common; in Iraq, the Christian house is next to the Muslim house.”...
“I am not happy when people ask, ‘How is the situation for Christians?’” he said. “Those who kill don’t kill only Christians. They kill Muslims as well — the situation is the same for both.”...
A fluent speaker of Italian, French and his native Arabic as well as some English — he spoke in Italian in this interview — Cardinal Delly has spent his life thinking about the common ground between Muslims and Christians.
He indicates that he views his role in a broad sense as an Iraqi spiritual leader. But he also has spoken up on behalf of Iraq’s Christians. During the summer, he and the Assyrian patriarch issued a call for help for Iraq’s Christians after a Chaldean priest and three assistants were killed in Mosul.
Iraq’s Christians have fared poorly since the toppling of Saddam Hussein, whose government treated them well, needing their support. They have been persecuted primarily by Sunni Arab extremists, who brand them apostates and in some areas have bombed their churches and burned their homes....
Cardinal Delly met recently with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to plead for protection for Christians. During the writing of the Iraqi Constitution, he met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the Shiite religious leader in Najaf, who shares his ecumenical views on faith.
The new cardinal was born in Mosul to a Christian family in which several close relatives also became priests. His maternal grandfather became a priest, as did several cousins. He went to school there until he was 19, when he left for Rome to study. He stayed 14 years, traveling through Europe to holy places and completing his studies. He obtained three degrees — a master’s in philosophy, a doctorate in theology and a doctorate in canon law — and his studies included the Koran.
In philosophy he chose to study Abu Nasr al-Farabi, an eminent early Islamic philosopher. For his doctorate in theology, he wrote on a debate about religion and virtue between a 10th-century Christian bishop and the Muslim minister of Morocco.
“The Christian house is next to the Muslim house,” he said. “Each has his own religion, each defends his own home, each defends his religion.
“But your faith is for God, the country is for everyone.”
Alongside Pope Benedict's desire to encourage the Christian community in Iraq amidst its recent suffering, his elevation of the Babylonian patriarch was reportedly geared toward ensuring Delly's continuance in office; the Eastern prelate was elected to his current post a year after his retirement as an auxiliary bishop of the Baghdad-based see.
Iraqi cardinal works to protect Christians
Nov 03, 2007
There is neither a cross nor a sign on the heavy metal gate to indicate that this is the official residence of one of this country's most prominent Christians, the first prelate in Iraq in modern times to be elevated to the rank of cardinal by the Roman Catholic Church.
(International Harald Tribune, November 2, 2007) BAGHDAD: The simple structure, in a dilapidated neighborhood of this capital, across from empty former ministry buildings, is the home of Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, whom the pope named on Oct. 17 to the college of cardinals along with 22 others from around the world.
The only outward sign that this compound is Christian is in the garden, where a carefully watered lawn surrounded by roses and zinnias is watched over by a graceful white statue of the Virgin Mary.
Many of his fellow cardinals come from Latin America, Africa and the Far East, places where Catholic practice is only a few hundred years old. But Delly, 81, patriarch of the Chaldean Church, comes from Mosul, in northern Iraq, a place where Christian rites have been practiced for nearly 2,000 years.
There, as in Baghdad and other places where Iraq's shrinking Christian population still lives, it is possible to attend a Sunday Mass sung in Aramaic, one of the Semitic languages spoken at the time of Jesus.
"Christians and Muslims have lived together here for 1,400 years," Delly said in an interview. "We have much in common; in Iraq, the Christian house is next to the Muslim house."
Delly has a message honed from his many decades living in two worlds: that of Western Europe, where he studied, and that of the largely Muslim Middle East, which is his home.
"I am not happy when people ask, 'How is the situation for Christians?' " he said. "Those who kill don't kill only Christians. They kill Muslims as well - the situation is the same for both."
The Chaldean Church is an Eastern Rite church affiliated with the Roman Catholics but allowed to retain its customs and rites, even when these differ from the traditions of the Roman church. Most Chaldeans live in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon, with scattered communities elsewhere in the Middle East.
The Chaldeans are the most numerous of Iraq's Christians, though their numbers have plunged since the toppling of Saddam Hussein. Christian priests estimate that fewer than 500,000 Chaldeans are left in the country, about one million fewer than when Saddam was in power, when the country had about 24 million people.
A fluent speaker of Italian, French and his native Arabic as well as some English - he spoke in Italian in this interview - Cardinal Delly has spent his life thinking about the common ground between Muslims and Christians.
Delly indicates that he views his role in a broad sense as an Iraqi spiritual leader. But he also has spoken up on behalf of Iraq's Christians. During the summer, he and the Assyrian patriarch issued a call for help for Iraq's Christians after a Chaldean priest and three of his assistants were killed in Mosul.
Iraq's Christians have fared poorly since the toppling of Saddam Hussein, whose government, needing their support, treated them well. They have been persecuted primarily by Sunni Arab extremists, who brand them as apostates, and in some areas have bombed their churches and burned their homes. And, because the Christian population is relatively well off, Christians also have been the targets of kidnappings.
Many of those who lived in Baghdad and surrounding areas have moved back to northern Iraq, which was traditionally where most Christians lived. Many more have fled the country for Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and - when they can manage it - Western Europe.
Delly met recently with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to plead for protection for Christians. During the writing of the Iraqi Constitution, he met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the Shiite religious leader in Najaf, who shares his ecumenical views on faith.
The new cardinal was born in Mosul to a Christian family in which several close relatives also became priests. His maternal grandfather became a priest, as did several cousins. He went to school there until he was 19, when he left for Rome to study. He stayed 14 years, traveling through Europe to holy places and completing his studies. He obtained three degrees: a master's in philosophy, a doctorate in theology and a doctorate in canon law, and his studies included the Koran.
In philosophy he chose to study Abu Nasr al-Farabi, an eminent early Islamic philosopher who was influenced by Aristotle and Plato and whose work informed the later writings of both Islamic and Christian Arab philosophers. For his doctorate in theology, Cardinal Delly wrote on a debate about religion and virtue between a 10th-century Christian bishop and the Muslim minister of Morocco.
"The Christian house is next to the Muslim house, each has his own religion, each defends his own home, each defends his religion," he said. "But your faith is for God, the country is for everyone."
Chaldean Patriarch Seeks Ties to Muslims
Oct 30, 2007
The Chaldean patriarch of Baghdad, recently named Iraq's first cardinal, said Tuesday that rising violence has made life worse for Iraqi Christians since the U.S.-led invasion, but he is optimistic that "peace will prevail."
BAGHDAD (AP) — Emmanuel III Delly, who will go to the Vatican next month to collect his cardinal's red hat, must balance the dangers facing his small Catholic community with a mission to reach out to Muslims.
The 80-year-old head of the ancient Chaldean Church in Iraq said the hopes of freedom in the aftermath of Saddam Hussein's ouster in 2003 have given way to widespread fear.
"We had hoped that the situation would be better. In fact it is worse," he told The Associated Press during an interview at his guarded compound in western Baghdad.
"Car bombs, roadside bombs, killings, assassinations. All of these things were not happening in the past. There was stability and security."
But Delly, who was one of 23 new cardinals named by Pope Benedict XVI on Oct. 17, blamed the violence on extremists and said it is his job to reach out to Muslims and followers of other faiths to promote unity.
"I pray every day to God to enlighten the minds of the officials and guide them to the road of peace and reconciliation," he said.
Often fiddling with the large silver cross on a chain around his neck, the Chaldean spiritual leader said he visits leaders from Islam's Shiite and Sunni sects during their holy days and they do the same on Christian holidays. He said he received "hundreds of calls from Sunnis and Shiites" congratulating him on his promotion to cardinal.
"We all want peace," he said, sitting in an ornate reception room in a building off a courtyard lined with flower bushes and a statue of the Virgin Mary in the center. "We should accomplish this with actions and not only with words."
Delly has been outspoken in the past about the need to protect Christians, who comprise less than 3 percent of Iraq's 26 million population.
In May, he issued a joint statement with Patriarch Mar Dinka IV of the Catholic Assyrian Church of the East saying Christians in a number of Iraqi regions faced "blackmail, kidnapping and displacement" at the hands of Sunni Arab insurgents led by al-Qaida in Iraq. They complained the government "has kept silent and not taken a firm stance."
But Delly had only a message of unity Tuesday, saying that Iraqis of all sects have suffered from the chaos and that he is optimistic security is improving.
"We have been living with our Muslim brothers for 14 generations and we have common interests with each other," he said. "The danger is hitting everybody without exception. We pray to God that peace will prevail and every one of us should work for peace."
The toned down remarks came three days after Delly received a promise from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to protect and support Iraq's Christian community, which is particularly vulnerable since it has little political or military clout to defend itself.
Delly, who speaks Arabic, French, Italian, Latin, English and Aramaic, said the Shiite Muslim prime minister called his promotion to cardinal "an honor for all Iraqis" and promised to send a government delegation to Rome for his Nov. 24 ordination.
"He told me he is doing his best to make Iraqis feel comfortable and live in peace in Iraq. I told him it is our duty to work for peace," Delly said. "We are working for the sake of all Iraqis."
The country's Christian population was estimated at more than 800,000 before the war — the majority of them Chaldean-Assyrians and Armenians, with small numbers of Roman Catholics.
They were generally left alone under Saddam's regime, and many, including former foreign minister and deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz, reached the highest levels of power. But after Saddam's ouster, Christians became perceived as supporters of the U.S., the Minority Rights Group says.
Christians were increasingly targeted by the Sunni-led insurgency, causing tens of thousands to flee, isolating many of those who remained in barricaded neighborhoods and forcing them to hide their religious affiliation when venturing out. Up to 50 percent may have left Iraq, says the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which advises the U.S. government.
Attacks on Christians peaked with a coordinated bombing campaign in the summer of 2004 aimed at Baghdad churches and again last September after the pope made comments perceived to be anti-Islam.
The German-born pontiff later said that his words about Islam were misunderstood and that he was sorry Muslims were offended, and he has recently been calling for dialogue between Christianity and Islam.
Delly, who was born in Tel Kaif, north of the northern city of Mosul, said Benedict asked him to reach out to Iraq's Muslims.
"He wants the good of everybody, and he asked me to open dialogues with our Muslim brothers here. This is his message to the Muslims and the whole world," Delly said. "We should do our best to make them understand and to make them feel that we love them and they love us. This is the real dialogue."
Al-Maliki pledges to support Iraqi cardinal
Oct 28, 2007
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki pledged Saturday to support Reverend Emanuel III, archbishop of Iraqi Church who was remunerated to Cardinal title by the Vatican.
BAGHDAD, Oct 27 (KUNA) -- The title is the highest for a Christian clergyman in Iraq's history.
Al-Maliki made the pledge during his meeting with Reverend Emanuel III at his office. He congratulated Reverend Emanuel III on the new title, saying that the latter's honoring by the Holy See was an honor for all Iraqis.
"The Iraqi government will offer all possible support to your efforts to combat sectarianism and intolerance," the prime minister vowed.
"It will also make its utmost to keep the Iraqi Christians at homeland and encourage those who migrated to come back," he added.
For his part, Reverend Emanuel III thanked Al-Maliki and prayed for God to bless his government and back its efforts in stabilizing the situations and spread the rule of law across Iraq.
He vowed to use his new title for the services of the homeland.
Reverend Emanuel III is scheduled to fly to Rome soon to receive the new title officially from Pope Benedict XVI.
Un onore per il patriarca Delly e per la Chiesa in Irak, sotto la persecuzione
Oct 18, 2007
Primi commenti a caldo sulla nomina cardinalizia del patriarca di Baghdad. “Un segno della paternità del papa verso il popolo irakeno”.
Beirut (AsiaNews, 17/10/2007) – “Il Santo Padre ha concesso un onore a sua Beatitudine, il patriarca Emmanuel Delly, nominandolo cardinale. Ma è un onore per tutta la Chiesa in Iraq, così provata anche in questi giorni dalla persecuzione, l’emigrazione, i rapimenti dei sacerdoti e l’insicurezza”. Mons. Michel Kassarji, vescovo caldeo di Beirut, commenta così per AsiaNews la nomina cardinalizia del Patriarca di Baghdad, annunciata stamane da Benedetto XVI. Il card. Emmanuel Delly - primo porporato dell'Iraq - si trova in questi giorni a Beirut per un raduno con tutti i patriarchi del Medio Oriente.
Mons. Kassarji continua “È certo un privilegio per lui e per la Chiesa. Anche lui sta soffrendo come tutti i cristiani in Iraq: è stato minacciato di morte, la sua chiesa ha subito attentati, è costretto a vedere i suoi fedeli partire per l’estero, emigrando”.
“È un grande onore!” gli fa eco una suora caldea da Baghdad. “Penso – continua - che questa nomina è un modo per il papa di mostrare la sua attenzione paterna verso tutti i cristiani irakeni e la popolazione. La gente vive nella miseria, l’abbandono, l’insicurezza e la violenza. C’è proprio bisogno di testimoni e di padri che prendono a cuore il nostro destino”.
Emmanuel III Delly, 80 anni appena compiuti - lo scorso 6 ottobre - è originario di Telkaif, nell'Iraq del nord. Nel 1952 era stato ordinato sacerdote della Chiesa caldea e 10 anni dopo - il 16 dicembre 1962 - è divenuto vescovo. Nel 1967 aveva ricevuto il titolo di arcivescovo, sebbene, sotto il precedente Patriarcato, svolgesse la carica di vescovo ausiliario di Baghdad.
Nel dicembre 2003, è stato eletto Patriarca di Babilonia dei caldei, succedendo a mons. Rophael Bidawid I, morto nel luglio dello stesso anno. L’elezione di Delly a Patriarca aveva messo fine a una situazione di stallo: la scelta del nuovo Patriarca era particolarmente delicata a causa della situazione irachena, con l’occupazione militare americana e forti tensioni intestine, che peraltro si sono almeno in parte riproposte nel corso del sinodo della Chiesa caldea del giugno scorso.
La comunità caldea, di antiche origini, è sparsa in tutto il mondo dagli Stati Uniti e Canada, fino all'Iran, Libano, Egitto e Siria e conta circa 1,5 milioni di fedeli. Il loro centro rimane da millenni l'Iraq, con Baghdad quale sede del Patriarcato, dove i caldei erano circa 800mila prima del 2003. La feroce persecuzione dei cristiani in atto nel Paese del Golfo ha costretto numerose famiglie ad oltrepassare i confini e oggi in Iraq i caldei, secondo stime non ufficiali, sono poco più di 200mila.
Dopo un lungo silenzio il leader della Chiesa caldea, nel maggio scorso, ha raccolto e rilanciato con forza gli appelli di vescovi e clero iracheno, perché i responsabili fermino la “persecuzione interna ed esterna” che colpisce i cristiani in Iraq. Ai politici ha chiesto di non rimanere a guardare, ed ha usato parole dure anche contro le truppe Usa: “Dio non gradisce quello che state facendo al nostro Paese”.
Iraq: incontro tra il cardinale Delly e il leader del partito sciita
Christen sollen Irak nicht verlassen
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