48 CHALDEAN NEWS <strong>MARCH</strong> <strong>2008</strong>
IRAQ today ‘Council of Christians’ to be established BY JOHN PONTIFEX Aleading Archbishop from Iraq has received backing from the country’s president to set up a “Council of Christians” to address key challenges threatening the church’s survival in their ancient homeland. Determined to shore up confidence among Christians after January’s wave of attacks on church buildings across the country, Archbishop Louis Sako is putting the finishing touches to a 30- member committee tasked with helping the faithful to secure their place in Iraq’s future. Speaking from Iraq in an interview with the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (CIN), Archbishop Sako said that as the council’s acting president, he had received express support for the plan from Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani. With a remit covering Kirkuk, the northern city where Mgr. Sako is Archbishop, the council breaks new ecumenical ground, bringing together representatives from five key Christian denominations — Chaldeans, Assyrians, Armenians, Syrian Orthodox and Catholics. Broken up into committees tackling key issues, the council will examine social, cultural and interfaith relations, backed up by a press office to promote awareness of its activity and involvement from outside groups. “For too long, the Christians have struggled to get their views heard in the main debates of the day because so often they don’t speak with one voice,” Archbishop Sako told CAN. “The main purpose is that Christians should have a united front. If we have demands, we should present them together. We should not be separated and thereby enfeebled.” The Archbishop said that a lack of unity compounded the problem of Christians living as a minority of just 12,000 in a city of one million. Archbishop Sako, an outspoken critic of a scheme to create a so-called “safe haven” for Iraq Christians in the Nineveh Plains outside Mosul, said the Council would address topical issues in a way that complements the work of Catholics and Orthodox across the party divide. Archbishop Sako, who said his council presidency was strictly temporary, went on: “The risk is that the political parties will not accept the council. They think we may try to replace them. This is not our goal at all.” He went on, “The problem is that ASSOCIATED PRESS The U.N. refugee agency is welcoming a decision by Lebanese authorities to regularize the status of hundreds of Iraqi refugees considered illegal in the country. During the week of February 17, the government started to give Iraqis who entered Lebanon illegally or overstayed their visas a three-month period to legalize their status. An announcement posted on the website of Lebanon’s General Security Department urged Arab and foreign nationals whose residency contradicts the law or who entered the country illegally to visit the department’s offices to resolve their situation. It also said they would be granted a year’s stay or ordered to leave the country. The Office of the U.N. High the Christians do not feel part of the political process — that their views are not being represented as well as they could be. They are tired. They feel hopeless and disappointed because they do not know how long it will take for the situation to be stabilized.” ‘The risk is that the political parties will not accept the council.’ – ARCHBISHOP SAKO Lebanese eases up on refugees Archbishop Sako said having a stake in the country’s future was key to the faithful rebuilding confidence. He added: “We have good relations with so many groups of people in Kirkuk. They appreciate what we do. We need to realize that our presence is not about how many there are of us but how we are behaving and what we are saying.” The Archbishop said that he hoped the scheme would prove successful enough to be adopted across the country, leading to the creation of a national council of Christians. Reprinted courtesy of the Assyrian International News Agency, www.aina.org. Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said this decision would benefit thousands of Iraqi refugees in Lebanon and would lead to the release of hundreds from detention. In a statement issued February 20, the refugee group said it will support the release process and provide assistance to those released from detention and to their families, as well as provide legal aid to Iraqis who wish to meet the regularization requirements. “The Lebanese decision benefiting Iraqi refugees is of particular significance given that it has been taken during a time when the country has been facing political turmoil and volatile security. This is a courageous decision,’’ said Stephane Jaquemet, the UNHCR representative in Lebanon. Jaquemet added that UNHCR’s priority over the next few months will be to assist the detainees upon release. “After several months of detention, many of them will be destitute,’’ he said. Unlike other Arab countries, Lebanon has adopted a policy of arresting Iraqis who are in the country illegally. Often they are kept jailed beyond their original sentences until they agree to return home. About 77 percent of the roughly 50,000 Iraqis in Lebanon have entered the country illegally, the Danish Refugee Council estimated in a survey late last month. The Lebanese policy has raised an outcry from human rights groups. In October 2007, up to 584 Iraqis were in detention in Lebanon because of their irregular status. Many of them had served their sentences but were still being arbitrarily detained. <strong>MARCH</strong> <strong>2008</strong> CHALDEAN NEWS 49