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CHALDEAN DIGEST<br />
WIKIMEDIA<br />
AINA<br />
Chaldean Patriarchate of Babylon in<br />
Baghdad has reached 74% completion.<br />
Construction<br />
of Baghdad’s<br />
Chaldean<br />
Patriarchate<br />
almost finished<br />
Earthquake damage in Syria<br />
Turkey and Syria reeling from earthquake ‘bomb’<br />
The death toll from the devastating<br />
magnitude 7.8 earthquake that hit<br />
Turkey and Syria on February 6 is continuing<br />
to grow, with at least 40,000<br />
dead and tens of thousands injured.<br />
The Catholic anti-persecution charity<br />
Aid to the Church In Need (ACN) is<br />
sending more than half a million Euros<br />
in aid to Christian initiatives in Syria<br />
as the death toll continues to rise.<br />
From Syria, Bishop Antoine Audo<br />
SJ, Chaldean Bishop of Aleppo, said<br />
that after 12 years of war, “this is a<br />
new tremendous bomb, lethal and unknown,<br />
which falls on us.”<br />
The earthquake was the most violent<br />
in eight centuries. He reported that Aleppo<br />
is “a city of two and a half million inhabitants<br />
without electricity, water and heating<br />
and it is very cold, winter is harsh.” Many<br />
people are living on the streets or in cars,<br />
afraid of further tremors.<br />
The Middle East Council of Churches,<br />
an ecumenical liaison body of the<br />
Churches and ecclesial communities<br />
in the Middle East and North Africa,<br />
called for “the immediate lifting of the<br />
sanctions against Syria and access to<br />
all resources, so that sanctions do not<br />
turn into a crime against humanity.”<br />
The Archbishop of Westminster,<br />
Cardinal Vincent Nichols has written<br />
to Fr. Andrawis Toma, chaplain to<br />
the Chaldean Catholic community in<br />
London, offering prayers and “sincere<br />
condolences” to members of Chaldean<br />
Catholic Church, which has substantial<br />
numbers in the two countries.<br />
– The Tablet/UK<br />
In the implementation of the project for<br />
the construction of the Chaldean Patriarchate<br />
of Babylon in Baghdad, the<br />
Ministry of Construction, Housing, and<br />
Public Municipalities has reached advanced<br />
completion rates totaling 74%.<br />
The project consists of a three-story<br />
structure with huge halls, classrooms,<br />
and a mini building for inquiries at the<br />
church doors. This shows that work on<br />
the project is still ongoing and plans to<br />
finish it are on schedule. Future work<br />
includes installing alabaster flooring<br />
and secondary roofing works.<br />
The patriarchate is in Baghdad,<br />
Iraq, at the Cathedral of Mary Mother<br />
of Sorrows. The current patriarch is<br />
Cardinal Louis Raphael I Sako, who is<br />
supported by Shlemon Warduni, the<br />
archbishop of Erbil, and Basel Yaldo,<br />
the auxiliary bishop of Baghdad.<br />
– Assyrian International News Agency<br />
The Iraqi President, Abdul Latif Rashid, the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein<br />
Amir-Abdollahian, and other Iranian officials.<br />
Iraqi President receives<br />
official invitation to visit Iran<br />
Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid accepted the invitation to visit Iran, which he received during his<br />
meeting with the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. The invitation was<br />
sent to Rashid from the Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi.<br />
Rashid stressed that Iraq and Iran are two neighboring countries, both have historical relations<br />
and common bonds, and both can contribute to strengthening the security and stability in the region.<br />
He is cautiously optimistic about using dialogue to solve regional and international issues.<br />
– Iraqi News Agency<br />
IRAQI PRESIDENT’S OFFICE<br />
French recognition of<br />
the Assyrian Genocide<br />
The French Senate passed a resolution on Wednesday, February<br />
8th, calling on the government to recognize the genocide<br />
of the Assyrian-Chaldeans of 1915-1918 and to make the day of<br />
April 24 a joint day of commemoration for the Armenian and<br />
Assyrian-Chaldean genocides. After discussion, the resolution<br />
was adopted by a vote of 300 - 2.<br />
In the shadow of World War I, the Assyrians (also known as<br />
Chaldeans and Syriacs) living in the southeastern region of the<br />
Ottoman Empire were deported, expelled, and massacred by the<br />
Ottoman Empire, in the same manner as the Armenians. France<br />
recognized the genocide of the Armenians on January 29, 2001.<br />
According to Professor Yacoub, an expert on the subject,<br />
this “genocide and looting of land and property was accompanied<br />
by severe attacks on the cultural heritage. Historical monuments<br />
were destroyed and left abandoned, churches desecrated,<br />
and schools demolished. Libraries of rare books and valuable<br />
manuscripts were squandered and destroyed, such as those of<br />
the Chaldean diocese of Seert or the Assyrian patriarchal seat<br />
in Kotchanes, a small village in Hakkari now abandoned, or the<br />
monasteries of the Syriac Churches in the Tur Abdin region.”<br />
– Assyrian International News Agency<br />
12 CHALDEAN NEWS <strong>MARCH</strong> <strong>2023</strong>