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Chaldean Churches in France<br />
• Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle in Sarcelles<br />
• Church of Our Lady of the Chaldéens Notre-Dame de Chaldée in Paris<br />
• The Church of Saint John the Apostle in Arnoville<br />
• Holy Trinity Church in Sarcelles-Lochères<br />
• Church of Saint François d’Assise in the région of Junes<br />
• Church of John XXIII in Clichy-sous-Bois<br />
• The Assyrian Chaldean Church (Notre Dame Chaldean - Saint Mark) –<br />
Eglise Assyro-Chaldéenne Notre-Dame de Chaldée-Saint-Marc in Marseille (12th arrondissement)<br />
• The Chaldean Church of Saint Ephrem in Vau or Flan (Église Saint-Éphrem des Chaldéens à Vaulx-en-Velin)<br />
Church of Our Lady of the Chaldeens -<br />
Notre Dame de Chaldee, Paris, France<br />
or in the Church of Saint-Hanna<br />
in the new Saint-Jean-d’Arnouville<br />
district, which opened recently near<br />
Sarcelles.<br />
Most young Chaldeans in France<br />
immerse themselves in the Chaldean<br />
culture from birth. Their parents<br />
came from Turkey in the 1970s, or<br />
more recently from Iraq, but they<br />
brought their traditions and beliefs<br />
with them. Chaldean youth in France<br />
is engaged in their faith, not just by<br />
committing to attend Mass but also<br />
in group activities for university and<br />
high school students. There is also<br />
the catechesis, meetings of young<br />
clergymen appointed to serve mass,<br />
or regular film screening followed by<br />
spiritual discussion.<br />
floor. Once a month, the parishioners<br />
gather for lunch, and everyone<br />
brings an Iraqi dish.<br />
The Church of Saint<br />
John the Apostle<br />
The Church of Saint John the Apostle<br />
was inaugurated in Arnoville on<br />
March 6, 2016. The Chaldean patriarch<br />
Cardinal Louis Sako came<br />
especially from Iraq to dedicate the<br />
third Assyro-Chaldean church in<br />
France. The French minister of Interior,<br />
Bernard Cazeneuve, attended<br />
the ceremony with the Cardinal of<br />
Paris, Monsignor André Vingt-Trois.<br />
The Chaldean Community<br />
in Sarcelles<br />
With 8,000 members in Sarcelles,<br />
the Chaldean community is well established<br />
in the Val-d’Oise region.<br />
But more and more members are concerned<br />
about the future of their faith.<br />
“It’s a huge fear on a daily basis,” says<br />
Jocelyn Zerrin, one of the leaders of<br />
Church of St. Thomas the Apostle in Sarcelles, France<br />
the parish choir. She regrets the lack<br />
of cultural transmission to young<br />
people. “The problem is that the new<br />
generation is fully integrated into<br />
French culture, at the expense of our<br />
Chaldean culture and customs. Children<br />
begin to speak French before<br />
Aramaic, which is good for integration<br />
in France. But we do not want<br />
our culture to disappear!”<br />
Christophe Yalbir, a 22-year-old<br />
devout Christian, understands this<br />
danger. Born in France to parents who<br />
arrived in Paris in 1991, he feels that<br />
his religion and culture are threatened.<br />
“I speak French more than Aramaic,”<br />
admits the young man.<br />
Hence the need to teach Aramaic<br />
to young people, says Father Narsai<br />
Soli, himself a second-generation immigrant.<br />
“Aramaic is a precious language;<br />
it is part of the transmission<br />
challenge we face towards young people,”<br />
explains the 35-year-old pastor.<br />
“Young people are essential. Without<br />
them there might be a missing link.”<br />
Bernadette Yildiz, 28 years old,<br />
strictly exercises her faith. “For us, going<br />
to mass is just like going to work,”<br />
the young woman says. “It’s normal.”<br />
In the church front yard, Bernadette<br />
speaks and discusses religion with<br />
other practicing youth. They were all<br />
born in France and know each other<br />
directly or indirectly. They participate<br />
in the survival and continuation<br />
of their sect in terms of religion and<br />
culture and the traditions that they<br />
learned within their families.<br />
“Our role is to help our society<br />
maintain its roots,” says Zeren. “This<br />
goes through many little things in<br />
everyday life. For example, learning<br />
to cook a traditional dish.” This<br />
30-year-old volunteer has two children<br />
from the third generation of<br />
immigrants. A new wave, according<br />
to Jocelyn, must be learned by young<br />
people themselves. “We are kind of<br />
a bridge between old and young. We<br />
need to integrate them as best we can<br />
into society.”<br />
The Notre-Dame de Chaldée<br />
The Notre-Dame de Chaldée Chaldean<br />
Church is in the 18th arrondissement<br />
of Paris. Construction<br />
on the four-floor structure began in<br />
1987 and was completed in 1992. In<br />
a sad twist, the architect, a Chaldean<br />
engineer, was killed in Turkey during<br />
a visit to his deported family during<br />
Saddam’s war against the Kurds.<br />
The church receives Chaldean<br />
parishioners from Iraq and Turkey,<br />
Chaldean and Assyrian refugees from<br />
Syria. Parishioners may also come<br />
to learn French, except on Sunday,<br />
when mass is held.<br />
Every Sunday at the eleventh<br />
hour, the parish comes to participate<br />
and listen to the ritual of the mass<br />
that is recited in both Chaldean<br />
and French languages. Afterwards,<br />
tea, coffee and biscuits are distributed<br />
to the attendees on the ground<br />
<strong>NOVEMBER</strong> <strong>2020</strong> CHALDEAN NEWS 31