Chaldean patriarch addresses Eucharistic Congress

“The West is not aware of the fears and difficulties that Christians are facing” in the Middle East, Cardinal Luis Raphael Sako, the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, said in his address to the International Eucharistic Congress on Tuesday.

Sako said the years-long drama of Christians in the Middle East was ongoing.

“Radicalism, terror as a political and religious ideology is growing more and more in the Middle East,” the cardinal said. “Extremists want to take advantage of the situation to mark the end of Christian presence in the Middle East,” he said.

Sako said Iraqi citizens and Christian communities shared the dream to live in peace, stability and dignity. The separation of state and church is key to that goal, he said.

Read also52nd International Eucharistic Congress opens in Budapest – PHOTOS