Pope Benedict XVI appoints the Chaldean patriarch of Babylon cardinal: necessity of speaking up for Christians in Iraq recognized

This Saturday the Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon will be officially appointed cardinal in Rome . The Society for Threatened Peoples has made the following commentary: „The appointment of His Beatitude Emmanuel III honours his exemplary work for the Christian Assyro-Chaldean Aramaeans, who are being persecuted and harassed in southern and central Iraq .”

In 1987 there were about 1.4 million Christians living in Iraq , but at the beginning of the war in 2003 there were only some 650,000, said the GfbV near-east correspondent, Kamal Sido. Of these three quarters have been driven out of their homeland. Emmanuel III Delly is a tireless advocate of the Iraqi Christians who have had to flee from terror and destruction, reported the Kurdistan/Iraq section of the GfbV, which is centred on Arbil. It appealed to the international community of states, and firstly the Christian world, to protect Iraqi Kurdistan as the last haven of refuge for Iraq ’s Christians also from attacks by the NATO partner Turkey .

Emmanuel III Delly called in a newspaper interview on 20th November to the governments in Europe, Australia and in the USA to support the Iraqi Christians. „Iraqi Christian refugees must be given economic aid on the spot, in Iraqi Kurdistan, which is a place where it is safe. This is the only way for them to stay in their home country.

His Beatitude Emmanuel III Delly will be made cardinal on 24th November at an official consistory. The decision on his appointment was announced on 17th October 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI.

The Kurdish Minister for Religious Affairs, Sheikh Muhammed Shakely, has also been invited to Rome for the official ceremony. This is in recognition of the work of the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan in taking up Christian refugees, and for freedom of religion and tolerance in northern Iraq .