In Iraq, Pope Francis became the first Pope to say Mass according to the Chaldean rite

BAGHDAD.- During the liturgical celebration held in the Cathedral of San José in Baghdad, Pope Francis has today become the first pontiff to say Mass according to the Chaldean rite, the majority church in Iraq, which is in full communion with Rome.

The Chaldean Cathedral where the ceremony was held, which was also attended by the Iraqi President, Barham Ahmed Salih, is one of the largest Chaldean temples in Baghdad just under a kilometer from the Tigris. Mass was concelebrated in Chaldean, Italian and Arabic language, by Pope Francis and the Babylonian Patriarch of the Chaldeans, the cardenal Louis Raphaël Sako.

In his homily dedicated to a decimated Christian congregation which numbered 4.4 million faithful in 1947 and barely reaches 300,000 today, the Pope preached on the Beatitudes. “Love brought the victorious martyrs out of trials, And how many there were in the last century, more than in previous ones! Love is our strength, the strength of so many brothers and sisters who have also suffered here from prejudices and offenses, mistreatment and persecution for the name of Jesus, ”Francisco said.

This is the second time that the Holy Father celebrates a Eucharist in an Eastern Catholic rite. The first time was in 2019 during his trip to Romania where he presided over the “Divine Liturgy” in the Romanian Byzantine rite with the beatification of seven Greco-Catholic martyred bishops.

The Chaldean rite includes various prayers and invocations that are not present in the Roman rite. In the liturgy of the Eucharist, for example, the celebrant breaks the sacred host and signs it with the Blood of Christ on the chalice while pronouncing a prayer.

Also, in preparation for Communion, the faithful and the celebrant take a moment of silence, seated, to examine their conscience and ask for forgiveness of sins, after which the prayer of absolution is pronounced.

ANSA Agency

THE NATION