A difficult and complex path lies ahead if Your Beatitude seeks to heal the deep divisions left behind by your predecessor, Patriarch Louis Sako. He adopted positions entirely opposed to the interest of the people of Ankawa at every critical historical moment when they confronted the corruption and systematic destruction that the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), its leadership, and its local affiliates inflicted upon the city.
Your predecessor crowned this hostile policy by betraying his own flock and abandoning them to their fate. He went even further by accusing the people themselves of being responsible for the corruption and devastation that befell the city, while appeasing the regional authorities at the expense of the dignity of his own people.
The history of the Chaldean Church and its spiritual standing in the hearts of the people of Ankawa, a legacy firmly established by great and revered bishops of the past, such as bishops Mar Stephan Babeka and Mar Hanna Markho, has been critically shaken in the minds of our younger generations.
After the era of those righteous men, our younger generations opened their eyes to a group of bishops who place their congregations at the very bottom of their priority list. The residents of Ankawa still vividly remember how the incumbent bishop and all his priests refused to join the mass protests against corruption in 2015. The only exceptions to this abandonment were two priests from the city itself, whose devotion to their land drove them to rebel against the wishes of their bishop. He, however, chose to appease the Kurdistan regional authorities and remain silent, even at a time when the walls of his own residence were being desecrated by drunken nonlocals coming to the city to revel without restraint.
We wish to inform Your Beatitude that the city now has nearly 100 illegal hotspots for immoral activities, hidden in residential areas and operating under the direct protection of the Kurdistan Democratic Party -- the same party whose leadership you publicly praised only recently. Meanwhile, KDP loyalists in the city are attempting to rob citizens of their livelihoods and intimidate them, through the security apparatus (Asayish), against anyone who dares to speak the truth. This has led lots of contributors to our media page to write under pseudonyms out of fear of reprisals from the security services.
Furthermore, hundreds of dunams of land in the city are seized daily by the authorities and influential figures in the Kurdistan Region, while our youth are being driven into emigration because they feel they have only two choices left: either surrender their dignity and flatter the figures imposed upon us by the KDP in order to secure their daily bread, or leave altogether. This has led to the depletion of the city's youthful energy and the future of the next generations.
We officially address this letter to you Your Beatitude and will ensure that it reaches you personally, so that there can be no excuse of ignorance and you bear responsibility for your future decisions with full awareness and understanding of this bitter reality. Your Beatitude now faces a severe ordeal: regaining the trust of the last stronghold of Chaldean Catholicism in Iraq.
or register to post a comment.