The Chaldeans and the Chaldean Church

The head of the Chaldaean Church, Emmanuel III Delly was born in Telkaif on 6th October 1927 in the so-called Nineve Plain not far from the provincial capital of Mosul in central Iraq . The Patriarch was christened Karim Geries Mourad Delly. On completion of his studies in Mosul and Rome he was ordained priest on 21st December 1952.

Emmanuel III Delly is licentiate of philosophy and doctor of theology and of canonical law. He returned to Iraq in 1960. There he became General Secretary of the then Patriarch Paul II Cheikho.

Emmanuel III Delly was appointed deputy patriarch in 1962 and he was then ordained bishop in December and took part at the Vatican Council (11th October 1962 to 8th December 1965). He was entrusted with the challenge of pastoral and ecumenical thinking. On reaching the age of 75 Emmanuel III gave up his office on 19th October 2002. On 3rd December 2003 the synod of the Chaldean Catholic Church agreed in Rome on Emmanuel III Delly as the successor to the deceased Patriarch Raphael I Bidawid.

The Chaldeans and the Chaldean Church:

Through the influence of Catholic missions, which since the 17th century were active especially among the Eastern Syrian Christians, there took place a schism between large sections of the church of Antioch and the East as a whole, which entered into communion with Rome . They retained the eastern rites. Rome called them the Chaldean Chruch and their patriarch was given the title "Patriarch of Babylon”. So the Chaldean Church joined Rome and grew in the 19th century. Since this time it is in numbers the largest Christian church in Iraq , having eight dioceses. There are in addition two each in Iran and the USA , one each in Lebanon , in Syria , Egypt , Canada , Australia and Turkey . The Chaldean Catholics number today about 600,000 faithful throughout the world and with 23 bishops. Of the 200 priests about half work in Iraq , while 20 care for the approximately 160,000 Catholic Chaldeans in the USA . About 18,000 live today in France .

Both under Saddam Hussein as after his fall many Chaldeans, like the adherents of other minorities, have left Iraq . The situation of the Christian population has become after the fall of Baghdad increasingly dangerous. Large numbers of the Christian population have been forced to leave their homes in Iraq and flee to safe areas.

The Chaldeans belong to the same ethnic group as the Assyrians and Aramaeans (Suryani), speaking in the various regions dialects of New Aramaic. Ancient Aramaic was the language of Jesus.