The Chaldean patriarch and the discourse of ‘inclusive citizenship’: restructuring the political representation of Christians in Iraq since 2003

ABSTRACT

Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Chaldean Church has sought to play a role in Iraqi politics that counteracts the impact of the declining Christian population. Within a general climate of identity politics and efforts to reformulate conceptions of Iraqi national identity and political representation of diversity, this contribution explores the role of the current Chaldean patriarch, Cardinal Louis Raphael I Sako, the leader of Iraq’s largest Christian denomination. The contribution shows that Cardinal Sako emphasises the need for inclusive citizenship (al-Mowatana) for all Iraqis. I contend that this is in keeping with the modern history of relations between the state and the Chaldean Church, and also born of dynamics within the community, particularly with the growing diaspora, as well as political difference between Iraq’s Christian communities. The aim of Sako’s al-Mowatana discourse is to safeguard the stability of the central government as a bulwark against further violence and displacement, as well as to offer Christians a way to participate in rebuilding Iraq. The Chaldean Church represents Christians to the state, arguing for their significance in building bridges, but also promotes the state to Christians as viable and necessary for enabling Christians to remain in their ancient homelands.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusive citizenship
• Iraq
• Chaldean Church
• church-state relations
• political representation
• minorities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Author interview with Cardinal Louis Sako I, December 2019.

2. An Agreement for Admission to the Eucharist between the Chaldean Church and the Church of the East was signed in the Vatican in 2001.

3. On the first anniversary of his election as patriarch, Sako issued a pastoral letter entitled ‘The Church: unity and communion’.

4. British National Archives FO 800/151 p. 194–5.

5. Author interview with Cardinal Louis Sako I, December 2019.

6. This term was not created by this party. Addai Scher, who was the Chaldean archbishop of Seert, used the phrase al-Sha’ab al-Kaldani al-Athuri (the Chaldo-Athuriyan people) in his book on the history of the community published in 1912. The use of Sha’ab rather than qawmiya or umma, terms generally translated as nation, is interesting. Scher was writing before the post-First World War frenzy of establishing nation-states. Sha’ab is also the term that Sako uses more frequently as an alternative to qawmiya.

7. The official website of the Chaldean Church in Iraq is www.saint-adday.com, which publishes articles and statements in Arabic and some in English. All translations from the official Arabic website of the Chaldean Patriarchate are the author’s own. The English website is available at https://saint-adday.com/?cat=12.

8. The definition in al-Mu’ajam al-Wasit reads: ‘A social or emotional connection established by a shared homeland, race, language or interests’ (author’s own translation).

9. This article affects all non-Muslims because it states that if a parent converts to Islam, any minor children are automatically converted to Islam in the eyes of the law. This is commonly cited as an example of discrimination against non-Muslims and a barrier to equal citizenship; author interview, Pascale Warda. June 2019.

10. Author interview with Chaldean parish priest ‘G’, February 2017.

11. Author interview with Cardinal Louis Sako I, December 2019.

12. Author interview with Cardinal Louis Sako I, December 2019.

13. Author interview with Pascale Warda June 2019; Author interview with Chaldean parish priest ‘I’ March 2017. Author interview with Chaldean parish priest ‘S’, February 2017.

14. Author interview with Suha Rassam, author, April 2018.

Additional information

Funding

The research for this article was funded by a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship award and also by the Isaac Newton Trust.

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth Monier

Elizabeth Monier is a Research Fellow based in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge. She holds a PhD in Politics and International Studies from the University of Cambridge and her research focuses on the contemporary political history of the Middle East, in particular the intersections between articulations of national and religious identities. She has published articles and books on identity politics, sectarianism, Arab regionalism and nationalism, Middle Eastern Christians, and the inclusion/exclusion of minorities.