Chaldean leader Cardinal Sako slams curial officials’ Western bias and inaction on Middle East Christians’ plight, demanding local collaboration.
Newsroom (06/11/2025, Gaudium Press) The head of the Chaldean Catholic Church has accused Vatican officials of failing to grasp the realities facing Eastern Christians, criticizing a culture of bureaucracy and “occidental speech” that sidelines local patriarchs.
Cardinal Louis Raphaël I Sako, Patriarch of Babylon, told The Tablet that the Dicastery for Eastern Churches treats Eastern Catholic leaders as subordinates rather than heads of autonomous sui iuris Churches. “They should know they are there to serve the Churches,” Sako said. “They have to respect our identity.”
He highlighted months-long delays in responding to correspondence and a lack of deference to patriarchs, who hold precedence over all bishops under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. “Dealings with the patriarchs should be very polite and very respectful,” he insisted, adding: “We are like fathers. We are not businessmen. We are pastors.”
Chaldean Catholics constitute 80 percent of Iraq’s remaining 200,000 Christians, down from an estimated 1 million in 1990 due to post-2003 instability and Islamist persecution. Sako praised Pope Leo for understanding Eastern Catholics’ challenges, noting frequent discussions with then-Cardinal Robert Prevost during the May conclave. The pontiff addressed Eastern pilgrims on May 14, urging the Latin Church to “preserve and promote the Christian East” and calling them “precious.”
Pope Leo is scheduled to meet five Catholic patriarchs privately in Beirut on December 1 during a six-day visit to Turkey and Lebanon. He has already held audiences with Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï and Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan. Sako expressed disappointment over a missed private meeting during his recent Rome visit.
Criticizing curial advice to the Pope, Sako lamented officials’ lack of “practical experience” and Middle Eastern representation. “When they speak, they speak occidental speech,” he said. While acknowledging Dicastery Prefect Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti’s academic expertise, Sako faulted his “fixed ideas” and called for a “realistic” approach beyond speeches—one that intervenes with regional leaders to influence Middle East politics.
In Rome, Sako attended the October 26 episcopal ordination of Archbishop Mirosław Stanisław Wachowski, the new apostolic nuncio to Iraq, and pledged to provide him a guiding “map.”
- Raju Hasmukh with files from The Tablet
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