PM Barzani welcomes Chaldean patriarch to Erbil, condemns mistreatment
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Saturday welcomed Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq and the world, to Erbil after he had decided to leave Baghdad following an Iraqi presidential decree against the clergyman, according to a tweet.
"We warmly welcome Patriarch Louis Sako to Erbil, the capital of peaceful coexistence for all religions and groups," Barzani said.
Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rasheed has recently revoked a 2013 presidential decree, which had recognized Cardinal Sako as the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church and custodian of the churches’ assets, citing the earlier decision was not “legally based.”
That decision and what Sako described as "deliberate attacks" against him by the Iranian-backed Babylon Brigades officials, including Rayan Kildani, have prompted his departure from Baghdad to Erbil, where he will operate as the head of the church.
The clergyman arrived in the capital Erbil on Friday night and was received by the Kurdistan Region's top ministers and representatives of the religious and other ethnic communities.
"We condemn the treatment directed towards the Patriarch," Barzani said.
"The Kurdistan Region, and the alchemy of coexistence that thrives here, is a source of pride to us all," he added.
We warmly welcome Patriarch Louis Sako to Erbil, the capital of peaceful coexistence for all religions and groups.
— Masrour Barzani (@masrourbarzani) July 22, 2023
The Kurdistan Region, and the alchemy of coexistence that thrives here, is a source of pride to us all.
We condemn the treatment directed towards the Patriarch.
Al-Kildani heads the 50th Brigade of the Shiite militias, known as Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). The U.S. Treasury designated al-Kildani for “serious human rights abuses” on July 18, 2019.
His party owns four out of five parliamentary seats allocated for minority groups in the 329-seat Iraqi parliament.
Following his arrival in Erbil, Cardinal Sako thanked Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) President Masoud Barzani, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, and Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani for their concerns.
Sako is believed to have played the main role in organizing Pope Francis's historic visit to Iraq and Kurdistan Region in 2021.