Iraq announced late Wednesday that it would summon the US Ambassador in response to comments made by the spokesperson for the US State Department regarding how the Iraqi government is treating a prominent Christian cleric. On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller criticized Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid's decision to revoke the decree recognizing Cardinal Louis Sako, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, as the leader of the Christian community in the country and allowing him to oversee its properties.
Sako played a key role in organizing Pope Francis's historic visit to Iraq in 2021 and receives strong support from the US government and European governments, which consider him a peacemaker in a country plagued by conflict. Sako condemned Rashid's move, claiming it was made at the behest of a Christian faction leader in Iraq close to Iran, and announced his departure from Baghdad to the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.
Miller stated in a press briefing: "I will say that we are disturbed by the harassment of Cardinal Sako and disturbed by the news of his departure from Baghdad." He added, "We look forward to his safe return. The Iraqi Christian community is an essential part of Iraq's identity and a pivotal part of Iraq's rich history of diversity and tolerance."
An Iraqi presidency statement noted that Rashid feels "disappointed by the accusations made against the Iraqi government" by Miller, prompting the decision to summon the ambassador. Defending his decision, Rashid said it was to correct a constitutional situation since the President of the Republic cannot appoint or dismiss heads of religious sects. He added that this move does not affect Sako's religious or legal status, which he claims to respect.
The Vatican Embassy in Baghdad issued a statement on Monday expressing its "regret over the misunderstanding and inappropriate handling regarding Sako’s role as the trustee of Chaldean Church property."
The number of Christians in Iraq was previously around 1.5 million but has dwindled over 20 years since the US invasion in 2003, estimating the minority's current numbers in the hundreds of thousands, especially following years of sectarian violence. Christians in Iraq, one of the oldest sects in the world, initially faced devastation amid the rise of Al-Qaeda in the early 2000s, followed by the brutal persecution of Christians and other religious minorities by the Islamic State (ISIS) between 2014 and 2017. The Christian community struggles to recover since ISIS's defeat in 2017, facing high unemployment rates and difficulty returning to historically Christian areas, some of which are still under the control of armed factions.
