Al-Rahi to Head to Iraq, Russia after Syria Visit
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi will head to Iraq and Russia soon after he made a short visit to Syria over the weekend.
According to An Nahar newspaper published on Monday, al-Rahi will head to Iraq during the upcoming two weeks to attend the enthronement of Louis Sako, the new patriarch of the Chaldean church.
Sako will replace Emmanuel III Delly who retired in December after reaching the age limit of 85 in the Christian church which recognizes the authority of the pope.
The Chaldean church, which has 700,000 followers and uses Aramaic -- the language that Jesus Christ would have spoken -- belongs to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world.
But along with other Iraqi Christian communities, it has suffered persecution, forced flight and killings in the aftermath of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Before 2003 there were more than a million Christians living in Iraq. Now they number around 450,000.
Al-Rahi's trip to Iraq comes after a two-day visit he made to the capital of Syria, Damascus, over the weekend to attend the enthronement of Greek Orthodox leader Youhanna X Yazigi at the Church of the Holy Cross in Qassaa.
It was the first by a Maronite patriarch since Syrian and Lebanese independence in 1943.
The patriarch also presided a mass at Saint Anthony's Cathedral in the Christian district of Bab Tuma.
Al-Rahi's visit to Syria created a heated debate locally as several officials including President Michel Suleiman called against politicizing it.
The March 14 and 8 alliances are deeply split over the revolt in Syria as the opposition backs the collapse of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
However, sources in the church described the visit as “religious,” and supported by the Vatican.
An Nahar reported that al-Rahi will also head to Moscow on a four-day visit to consolidate ties between the Maronite Church and the Russian Orthodox Church.
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