CHALDEAN PATRIARCH SEEKS TIES TO MUSLIMS
By Kim Gamel
Associated Press
Tuesday October 30, 2007 9:01 PM
BAGHDAD (AP) – 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."
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."