From fear to hope

The Procurator of the Chaldean Church to the Holy See and Apostolic Visitator in Europe, Monsignor PHILIP NAJIM , began his visitation of Chaldean Catholic communities in Europe on 16 September. News of the visitation is given by the website baghdadhope which also provides details of the Procurator’s journey through Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In the first stage, at Essen and Mönchengladbach (Germany), the new priest, Father Sami Al-Rais (who was kidnapped in Iraq on 4 December 2006 and released six days later) will be presented to the two Chaldean communities, some 450 families in all. This journey is also an opportunity to review the situation of the Chaldean Catholic communities scattered through Europe and also to help them maintain their close links with their country of origin We interviewed Msgr.Najim. Of whom are the Chaldean communities in Europe formed? “They are families who in past decades left behind them the dictatorship, wars and embargo in Iraq and are now integrated in the social fabric of their host countries in Europe. Unfortunately the war of 2003 and the terrible episodes of violence in recent months have accelerated the flight of many others. It cannot be denied, in fact, that a real persecution of Christians in Iraq is in progress. It’s clear that for these people, who imagined a different future but who have now found themselves in the uncomfortable role of refugees, the situation is tough: all the more reason why they need material help and moral comfort”. What is the aim of this visitation? “It is to meet these families and Chaldean communities to find out their needs and to enable them to feel the unifying and consolatory presence of the Church”. You are beginning your visit in Germany… “Yes, in Germany where I will first visit Essen and Mönchengladbach to present the new priest, Father Sami, to the local communities. I will then present to the diocese of Munich the letter of presentation for the admission of another seminarian, the second, who will study in that city. From Germany I will then travel to Denmark, where some 400 Chaldean families are living and where I will meet their priest, Father Faris Toma, and the Catholic bishop, Czeslaw Kozon. From there I’ll go to Sweden, where members of the Chaldean community, given their number, some 20,000, have been divided into three centres to be able to provide them with better pastoral care”. Sweden is the country that has accepted the largest number of Chaldean faithful coming from Iraq. In what situation does the community find itself? “Emigration to Sweden is not recent. Sweden has always been ready to welcome those fleeing from situations of disadvantage or danger who wish to start a new life. That’s the case of many Iraqi Chaldean families. In Sweden, together with Father Samir Dawood, I will visit the new Chaldean centre, at Sodertalje, the town that is the home of the largest number of Chaldean faithful led by Fr. Maher Malko. Then, at Eskilstuna I’ll meet Fr. Paul Rabban and his community. This will also be an occasion to meet the youth, our future, and to understand the problems of their age group, and how they are coping with life lived so far from their country of origin”. So you have a packed agenda before you… “Apart from my meetings with the communities, I’ll see the Bishop of Stockholm, Anders Arborelius, who’s really helping Chaldean families, and I’ll also visit the community in Norway, only some 100 families who still have no priest of their own”. What’s the situation in the rest of Europe? “There are countries where Chaldean communities have been established for decades, and others where they hardly exist at all. Apart from the countries already mentioned, there are communities in France, Holland, Austria, Greece, Belgium, Great Britain and Georgia. In Georgia, for example, with the help of the Chaldean diocese of Detroit in the Western USA, headed by Bishop Ibrahim N. Ibrahim, we are building the first Chaldean church in the Caucasus, a parish centre and a house for the parish priest, Fr. Benni Bet-Yadkar, the first Chaldean priest in this country for twelve years”. Are there churches dedicated to the Chaldean rite in Europe? “Yes, there are three, at Paris, at Sarcelles, outside the French capital, and in Marseilles. Then there are other Roman Catholic churches where our rite is also celebrated, as at Lyon, Vienna and in the other countries I listed. With the help of our faithful we are trying to build other churches. In Sweden, for example, we are purchasing a piece of land for this purpose. In Germany the Archbishop of Munich has entrusted a three-storied building to the Chaldean mission; it is now being rebuilt and should be ready in 2008; it will also include classrooms for catechism, very important so that children born in Germany don’t forget their Chaldean Catholic roots”. Are Chaldean Catholics a living presence in European Catholicism? “Yes, it’s wonderful. This summer, I visited the community in Holland and Belgium and on 15 August, feast of the Assumption, I celebrated a mass in the little Belgian town of Banneux, together with the parish priest, Father Firas Ghazi. Over 3000 people from Belgium, Holland and France, participated in that rite. It was truly a very happy day.”