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IRAQ - The Synod of the Chaldean Church convened in Rome at the end of October

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Creato: 01 Ottobre 2015

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Baghdad (Agenzia Fides Service) -

The Synodal Assembly of the Chaldean Church will be held in Rome, from 24 to 29 October. 21 Bishops at the head of the Chaldean dioceses present in Iraq, in the Middle East and in the Chaldean communities in diaspora have been convened. This was reported by official sources of the Chaldean Patriarchate, consulted by Agenzia Fides.
The Synod of the Chaldean Church had previously been convened for September 22 in Ankawa, a suburb of Erbil inhabited mostly by Christians, which houses a large part of the refugees of the Nineveh Plain who fled before the advance of the jihadist Islamic State. Then the synodal assembly was postponed, and now the new convocation in Rome will facilitate the journey for the Bishops from the United States, Canada and Australia. Patriarch Louis Raphael I will already be in Rome, where he will take part in the Synod on the family.
The synodal assembly of the Chaldean Church is called to foster unity and communion among the dioceses, in and out of the Iraqi territory. The Bishops will be called to discuss the tragic emergencies involving the peoples of the Middle East, including the tens of thousands of Christians who fled from the Nineveh Plain. The Bishops will also be asked to make an assessment of the two and a half years since the election of Patriarch Louis Raphael. The ecclesial controversy regarding a group of priests and monks who, in recent years, had left their dioceses and their religious houses in Iraq without the permission of their superiors, and moved to the US and other Western countries where there is a widespread Chaldean diaspora will also be addressed. Already in October 2014, Patriarch Louis Raphael had issued a decree which ordered the exiles without permission to go back to their diocese of origin, or to agree with their Bishops and community leaders the regularization of their transfer.
In the working sessions, the Chaldean Bishops will also have to establish the criteria that should guide an efficient and transparent management of funds for charity and assistance to refugees. It will also discuss the urgent need to promote lay participation in Church life, through the development of parish councils.
The Chaldean Patriarchate called on all parishes and Chaldean communities around the world to pray to the Lord for the success of the synodal assembly. (GV)

©  (Agenzia Fides 01/10/2015)