Saad Salloum: like al-Sistani, Patriarch Sako 'voice of Iraqis'
Academic delves into the crisis between the cardinal and the president of the Republic following the withdrawal of the patriarchal decree. The cardinal claims the struggle for "freedom and independence." The roots of the current crisis in the phase of the fight against Isis, when armed militias (including Christian ones) develop. Criticism of baseless "politicization" defends homeland and citizens.
Milan (AsiaNews) - The "crisis" underway between the Chaldean patriarch, Card. Louis Raphael Sako, and the President of the Republic Abdul Latif Rashid, is an open wound for the country, for Christians and for the entire population, and for the very idea of a nation capable of protecting all its citizens. Also because the "role" of the Chaldean Church and of the patriarchate in the modern history "of Iraq and its society is unique".
The cardinal "is the representative of all Christians" where the Chaldeans are the main component and is "the highest-ranking figure" in terms of moral, spiritual and political authority for the role he is called to play. Saad Salloum, journalist and associate professor of political science at al-Mustanṣiriyya University in Baghdad, one of the most prestigious in the capital, observes with attention - and concern - the serious crisis underway between the president and the Chaldean primate.
Interviewed by AsiaNews, the president of the Masarat Foundation, at the forefront of the fight for dialogue, freedom and rights, warns that the first signs had already emerged in 2017 with the progressive affirmation of groups and militias fighting against the Islamic State. "Internal divisions have existed for some time, but they have worsened - he underlines - with the formation of armed factions following the rise of Isis in the Nineveh plain", an area historically "with a Christian majority".
Card. Sako: freedom and independence
In mid-July, Card. Sako temporarily transferred the patriarchal seat from the Iraqi capital to Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, in response to the President of the Republic's cancellation of the decree recognizing his role and authority.
The surprising decision by the head of state [who recently received the Syro-Catholic patriarch Mar Ignatius Youssef III Younan, "discussing" the situation of Christians]; Rashid has disavowed a centuries-old tradition by hitting the highest Iraqi Catholic authority, which is also responsible for the management of ecclesiastical assets and assets.
This it would seem is the crux of the question: the control of the properties that have ended up in the crosshairs of the self-styled Christian leader "Rayan the Chaldean" and of the pro-Iranian militias who support him (a variegated galaxy that includes Shiites, Christians, Sunnis, etc.), threat to peace and coexistence for the whole nation. In response to the attacks, the cardinal called for a boycott of the upcoming elections.
Last weekend, the cardinal returned to comment on the crisis that the Christian community and the very institution that he represents is experiencing. In a reflection published on the patriarchate's website, the cardinal stressed that "the Church in Iraq must preserve its freedom and its independence". It "must defend the Christians of Iraq from those who want to strip them of their rights, opportunities, properties" and even distort "the demographics of the Nineveh plain" where the majority of the inhabitants are Christians.
Furthermore, the Church must "strongly defend the truth towards itself, the country and its Christians" who are increasingly becoming a "weak link" in the chain, accepting "only the truth" and leaving aside "the flattery", because "injustices and persecutors will sooner or later disappear" - observes the primate.
Crisis of representation
The Chaldean patriarch, observes Saad Salloum, is "the representative of the Christians" in the so-called "House of Elders", which is why the current standoff is not limited to "the withdrawal of the decree" but is a "negative message" from the state to minorities, “first of all the Christians”.
He continues: "The root of the question is a crisis in the representation of Christians themselves, of their independence as the patriarch has repeatedly stressed". He, adds the expert, is also primarily responsible "for the care of all the Churches present in the country, which number 14. Even the Christian delegates in Parliament [five according to the quota distribution system, ed.] must look at the priorities of everyone, not only of a specific reference group or belonging”.
There are self-styled Christian leaders or movements, such as the Babylon Brigades and Rayan the Chaldean, who are attacking Card. Sako accusing him of exercising a role and function that is "political", while he should limit himself "to matters of the Church".
However, explains Salloum, fresh winner - first from the Muslim world - of the Zêd Foundation Award for Human Solidarity, an award given to distinguished personalities in the field of the protection of rights and freedoms, right here is the "fundamental misunderstanding".
In modern history, the patriarch can be compared to Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the Shiite Muslim world: the "highest-ranking figure" who, while keeping "distant from political issues" does not fail to intervene "in the face of threats to the identity of the country, its values, its political system” by pronouncing fatwa.
"Nevertheless-he adds-no one takes the liberty of criticizing the role of al-Sistani, because he speaks on behalf of all Iraqis". Proof of this is what happened during the 2019 street protests, when he sided "with the people against corrupt political leaders unable to pursue the interests of the people".
Voice of Iraqis
Through his speeches, his public speeches and his positions, the cardinal tries to overcome divisions and to unite Christians under a common Iraqi identity, recalling challenges that concern the entire nation.
As the Chaldean primate himself wrote in the past, recalls the expert quoting some passages from his analysis of the past, a patriarch "never seeks to be a political pole for Christians, but it is his duty as a father and patron, and at the light of the current political, social and security situation in the wake of multiple conflicts and the emergence of ISIS, stand up for the oppressed, displaced and poor. He must call for national reconciliation and effective partnership to build a state with fair laws and a complete and all-encompassing homeland."
"The patriarch is the voice of Christians in Iraq" continues Saad Salloum, and fights against those who "threaten their identity, their future, the role they can and must play within the state. "We must look at his role from this perspective" and it is precisely from this point of view that the criticisms of "politicization" leveled at him have no value or foundation.
Both Card. Sako and al-Sistani "are spiritual leaders" with a "profound influence" on the political level due to their "charisma" and ties to the homeland.
“Both - he concludes - try to defend people's rights. The patriarch represents all Christians, but when he speaks he does so on behalf of all the Iraqi people, recalling that Christians themselves are not a minority, but citizens with equal rights".
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16/08/2023 12:33
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