Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, the Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad, spoke to AsiaNews about recent events in Iraq, and more generally in the region, scene of a new escalation between Iran and the United States (and Israel). “Sadness, great concern, and a climate of fear” are pushing many government officials and religious leaders to remain silent, relegated to the margins while the country risks sinking back into a spiral of tension and violence, fuelled by new winds of war that are “blowing in the Middle East,” in addition to an “internal instability” that has already proven to be a decisive factor in plunging Iraq into chaos.
Amid a broad conspiracy of silence, fear, and silence that resonate louder than words, “several politicians have in recent days asked me to intervene, to make the voice of a religious authority heard,” said the cardinal by telephone at the end of a three-day retreat and prayer. Fear and anxiety are fed by internal instability in a country waiting for the new president to be elected after repeated postponements. Once he is named, he will have to name a prime minister charged with forming a new government.
“Not only in Iraq, but throughout the region, from Syria to Lebanon, people are very worried,” Cardinal Sako said. “The same goes for Christians, who have already paid a very high price in terms of exodus, and who certainly cannot live without security and stability.” Above all, “They fear for their children and their future,” he explained.
“Last but not least, there is also the problem of an economy that is 90 per cent dependent on oil revenues, plus other critical factors,” including a resurging threat from the Islamic State and other jihadist groups.
The Chaldean patriarch has also joined the chorus of criticism and concern over the United States’ decision to send Islamic State detainees from Syria, just over a hundred for now, but they number in the thousands, to neighbouring Iraq.
Instability and fear are also reflected in “the weakness of international institutions, starting with the United Nations, which is no longer capable of ensuring global order. The only superpower today seems to be the United States, which does what it wants,” especially since Trump’s return to the White House.
