巴格达宗主教呼吁伊朗的加尔丁礼信徒在波斯教会内作“光、盐和酵母”

作者 Louis Raphael I Sako*

五月十二日至二十四日，伊拉克加尔丁礼宗主教萨科枢机对伊朗进行了牧灵访问。分别在德黑兰和乌卢米耶会晤了当地政界、基督教和穆斯林等宗教界人士。强调了基督徒在伊朗的历史性存在、早在伊斯兰之前就已经存在。邀请信徒们“亲近你们的国家”、“提高素质质量、不要数量”

巴格达（亚洲新闻）—“你们是伊朗人，不是一个外来团体的后裔”。为此，“我邀请你们亲近你们的国家”；这片在伊斯兰之前基督徒就已经生活的土地。这是伊拉克加尔丁礼宗主教路易斯·拉斐尔一世萨科枢机在五月十二日至二十四日对伊朗进行牧灵访问后给伊朗基督徒的信（照片为宗主教公署公布的宗主教牧灵访问照）。在德黑兰和乌卢米耶期间，萨科枢机会晤了当地政界、基督教和穆斯林等宗教界人士；与加尔丁礼团体的主教、司铎、教友和修女见面。

据本社获悉，宗主教信中表示，对此行“感到十分满意”。因为“我们从中学会了许多东西”，宗主教强调了伊朗加尔丁礼团体的信仰、坚定与希望；他们恪守了包括语言在内的价值观与传统。萨科枢机还谈到了伊朗基督徒在你们可爱国家中所享有的“和平与稳定”；“与政府和宗教当局的积极对话”。以下为萨科枢机信全文：

Dear Bishops, priests, Religious and Sisters and Brothers

"Grace and peace from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ be with you" (Rm. 1,7

We were very pleased with our visit to you from 12th -24th May. It has taught us a lot. You are always in our prayers. We thank God. Meeting you in Teheran and in Urmia filled our hearts with joy and gratitude for your faith, steadfastness, hope, love and for keeping your Christian values and traditions including our Chaldean language. Thank you.

We thank God for the peace and stability that your are enjoying in your beloved country Iran, and we thank the government and religious authority whom we met, we thank them for their kind reception and positive dialogue.

Beloved sisters and brothers,

Remember that you are descendants of martyrs and saints. In the cathedral of Urmia there are the remains of 4000 martyrs killed in 1918. They are a blessing and a force for you. St. Paul says in his Epistle to Romans, and to you today: "If the first fruits are holy, so is the whole batch of dough; and if the root is holy, so are the branches" (Romans11, 16). Blessed are you!

We invite you also to be attached to your country; you are Iranians and not a foreign community descended from another planet. You were there before the arrival of Islam, Christians were the majority, and your church was called the Church of Persia, and today you are a minority, but we felt that everyone is respecting you. Though you are a small community in number, you are as strong as the early church. We are confident that you will grow. Strength is in quality and not in number. You are the light, the salt and the yeast. Your future is a daily act of faith. Do not be afraid as Jesus repeats in the Gospel.

Dear ones, Let the grace and peace fill your hearts along with the blessings of the Lord.

* Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans and president of the Iraqi Bishops’ Conference