by Dario Salvi

Msgr. Imad Khoshaba Gargees received episcopal ordination in early November from the Chaldean Patriarch. In his mission he intends to look at the 'needs and expectations' of a community that has long been without a guide, basing his work on 'love and humility'. The wait is on for the date when he will be able to enter the country and the diocese. The 'many challenges' to which he will have to respond.

Milan (AsiaNews) - "The faithful expect the bishop to be their father and pastor." When we talk about fathers, we touch on "the needs" and "expectations" of his children, which is why the bishop "is a father for the whole community" and looks at his "children with great care and profound sincerity, with love and with humility," affirms the new Chaldean archbishop of Tehran, Msgr. Imad Khoshaba Gargees to AsiaNews.

He was ordained in early November by the patriarch Card. Louis Rapahel Sako following his appointment - with the Pope's approval - at the end of last September.

It was a moment of celebration for a Christian community which has been waiting for a new pastor for some time. The new bishop confesses he is anxious to meet with them "having never visited it so far", although at the moment "there is no certain date" for the official entrance. “After Pope Francis' approval - he recalls - I immediately ran to church to pray before the saint, entrusting my life [and mission] into the hands of the Lord”.

A long-awaited shepherd

Last September 26, the pontiff expressed his assent to the election of the patriarchal Church of Baghdad of Msgr. Imad Khoshaba Gargees, of the clergy of the eparchy of Duhok, in Iraqi Kurdistan, as archbishop of Tehran of the Chaldeans. The prelate was born on 4 April 1978 in Komane (Amadiyah-Duhok), in the semi-autonomous region of the north, and studied philosophy and theology at Babel College in Baghdad between 1997 and 2004.

On 8 June of the same year he received priestly ordination in Komane and was ascribed to the eparchy of Duhok. From 2004 to 2010 he was secretary to the bishop and parish priest of Amadiyah. In Rome he obtained a licentiate and a doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Oriental Institute. From 2016 to 2022 he held the position of parish priest of the Mar Ith Alaha cathedral in Duhok, before being transferred in 2022 to Mangesh as parish priest.

The Catholic community of the Iranian capital, says the new bishop, welcomed the appointment with joy and "I received many congratulations and messages of good wishes" both from the Chaldeans and "from other bishops" in Tehran and in the country.

"In Iranian society - he explains - there is great mutual respect and, in this element, our mission is played out and summarized: to be witnesses and brothers" with each other, Christians and non-Christians, with "every human being" . “Much of my new work – he adds – will be based on the care of the faithful and their needs” which he intends to know and deepen “once I arrive” in the diocese. At the center of the work, he states, are "the faithful and the community".

The Chaldean archepachy of Tehran is based in the Cathedral of Saint Joseph, although the first headquarters in 1854 was Sanandaj and only in 1944 was the transfer to the capital. In November 1970 the faithful welcomed Paul VI, the only pontiff to visit the Islamic Republic although the relations between the ayatollah and the Holy See are consolidated and the Vatican has often played the role of privileged interlocutor with Tehran even in the most critical moments.

Christians and religious freedom

An issue that concerns religious minorities is that of the free practice of worship, in a reality in which there is state control over the population and over demonstrations of dissent, in particular after the death of the 22-year-old Kurd Mahsa Amini in September 2022.

The young woman was stopped by the morality police in Tehran for not wearing the veil (hijab) correctly and was killed during detention in circumstances that were never clarified. The repression of the protests has also strengthened controls on religions, as denounced in the 2023 report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, which calls for the reclassification of Iran as a "nation of particular concern" for "systematic and egregious violations".

Furthermore, in seven weeks, between last June and July, dozens of Christians, mostly converts from Islam but there is no shortage of cases of Assyrian-Chaldeans baptized since childhood, were arrested by the authorities. Activists from Article18, a site specialized in documenting the ongoing repression at the hands of the ayatollahs against religious minorities, report that at least 69 people are being held in custody. And at least 10 of them - four men and six women - have been jailed.

For those who obtained bail, the families had to pay amounts ranging from 8 thousand up to 40 thousand dollars. The majority of those arrested are new converts from Islam, but there is no shortage - at least two confirmed cases - of arrests of Iranian Armenians, who have professed the Christian faith since birth. The wave of arrests coincided with a new repression which also affected the Baha'i community, which together with Christian converts is another minority religious group not recognized by Tehran.

The multiple challenges

“Our world today - underlines Mgr. Imad Khoshaba Gargees - is facing different and multiple challenges, and everyone must work together to help each other. Of course, the problems vary from one society to another and from one place to another, but as Christians we always live in hope to be able to overcome them" with "faith and prayer".

The mission will be guided by the principles of "sincerity and seriousness", of respect for the "conscience" aware of operating in a reality in which Christians are a minority in a society with a large Muslim majority. And in a country often at odds with Western powers and subject to sanctions that have undermined its economy.

According to the latest official estimates in Iran there are around 22 thousand Catholics, while Christians of all denominations reach around 500 thousand compared to a total of almost 84 million inhabitants, the vast majority of whom are Shiite Muslims.

They exceed 90%, with a small share of around 5% of Sunnis, especially in the south-eastern areas where ethnic minorities, including the Baloch, live. At the Church level there are Chaldeans, Armenians and Latin rite communities, in addition to Europeans or Latin Americans who live for work in the Islamic Republic.

According to the Iranian Constitution (art. 13) Christians, Zoroastrians and Jews are free to practice worship "in compliance" with the laws inspired by the Muslim faith. Furthermore, Christians have by right representatives in Parliament (Majlis). In the whole country there are only two Assyrian-Chaldean archdioceses, an Armenian diocese and a Latin archdiocese in a very vast and difficult to administer territory.

The Chaldean patriarch himself spoke about the situation of Christians in Iran in July 2020, sending a pastoral letter to the community and the faithful in a complicated phase for the local Church due to the persistent lack of a pastor. The faithful, as Card. had already underlined three years ago. Sako, face "multiple challenges", the first of which is emigration.

There were once at least 15 thousand Chaldeans in the Islamic Republic, now there are only 4 thousand between Tehran and Urmia, and the figure "is worrying". During the homily of the ordination mass of Msgr. Imad the primate recalled that "the bishop is the father of everyone", especially of "the poor and oppressed" whose "fears, hopes and aspirations" he understands, following and resolving "crises with love and wisdom".

“Every bishop - underlined the patriarch - in the church is not only for his community, but for all Christians and for all people. He opens up to them, loves them, supports them, collaborates and defends their rights and their dignity." Words that will guide the mission of the new bishop, who confidently awaits to be able to take possession of the diocese: “I am waiting - concludes Msgr. Imad - that the [bureaucratic] procedures are completed to be able to arrive in Tehran and start working with our community. But I ask everyone, even AsiaNews readers, for prayers to support me in my mission and for the Lord to grant peace and stability throughout the world."

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