Home · Faith · Oct 21 archive
Chaldean Catholics Gather at Vatican for Mass with New Patriarch
Confirmed
In Short: Hundreds of Chaldean Catholics from Iraq and around the world gathered at the Vatican for a Mass with their new patriarch, Mar Paul III Nona.
Hundreds of Chaldean Catholics from Iraq and around the world gathered at the Vatican for a Mass with their new patriarch, Mar Paul III Nona, on October 15.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, acting on behalf of Pope Leo XIV, publicly affirmed the ecclesiastical communion granted to Nona following his election as patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans in April.
The Mass, celebrated according to the Chaldean rite, filled St. Peter’s Basilica with prayers and chants in Aramaic, bringing the traditions of the ancient Chaldean Church to the heart of Catholicism.
Kako, a Chaldean Catholic, expressed the importance of coming together under one holy Catholic Church, noting that the faith of earlier generations, particularly those who suffered martyrdom, continues to sustain Chaldeans wherever they live.
Father Christopher Somo, a Chaldean priest serving in the United States, described the pressure that smaller communities face within the societies where they have settled.
Hisham, another attendee, emphasized that encouraging Christians to return to Iraq must be accompanied by practical measures to help them rebuild their lives.
The gathering was also an opportunity for Chaldean Catholics to reflect on the challenges facing their community both in their homeland and abroad.
The Mass concluded a weeklong Vatican gathering on the challenges facing families, held 10 years after Pope Francis published his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia.
Swiss Guards, diplomats, cardinals of the Roman Curia, Eastern Catholic patriarchs in full liturgical vestments, and bishops representing nearly every country in the world attended the Mass.
The election of Bishop Emil Shimoun Nona as Patriarch—now Mar Paul III Nona—concludes a decisive synodal gathering in Rome held from April 9 to 12, 2026, and opens a new chapter for one of Christianity’s most ancient communities.
The new patriarch’s own biography suggests an awareness of both dimensions, as he has come to embody a Church that increasingly lives beyond its ancestral lands.
What this adds
The gathering was also an opportunity for Chaldean Catholics to reflect on the challenges facing their community both in their homeland and abroad.
The election of Bishop Emil Shimoun Nona as Patriarch—now Mar Paul III Nona—concludes a decisive synodal gathering in Rome held from April 9 to 12, 2026, and opens a new chapter for one of Christianity’s most ancient communities.
Background
El Niño, a naturally occurring weather phenomenon, is currently supercharging extreme weather events around the globe, according to the BBC.
On Tuesday, British adventurer Karl Bushby announced that he had completed the final major hurdle of his journey by swimming from France to the UK, marking the end of his 28-year walk around the world.
What's confirmed
- Hundreds of Chaldean Catholics from Iraq and around the world gathered at the Vatican for a Mass with their new patriarch, Mar Paul III Nona, on October 15.
- Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, acting on behalf of Pope Leo XIV, publicly affirmed the ecclesiastical communion granted to Nona following his election as patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans in April.
- The Mass, celebrated according to the Chaldean rite, filled St. Peter’s Basilica with prayers and chants in Aramaic, bringing the traditions of the ancient Chaldean Church to the heart of Catholicism.
- Kako, a Chaldean Catholic, expressed the importance of coming together under one holy Catholic Church, noting that the faith of earlier generations, particularly those who suffered martyrdom, continues to sustain Chaldeans wherever they live.
- Father Christopher Somo, a Chaldean priest serving in the United States, described the pressure that smaller communities face within the societies where they have settled.
- Hisham, another attendee, emphasized that encouraging Christians to return to Iraq must be accompanied by practical measures to help them rebuild their lives.
- The gathering was also an opportunity for Chaldean Catholics to reflect on the challenges facing their community both in their homeland and abroad.
- The Mass concluded a weeklong Vatican gathering on the challenges facing families, held 10 years after Pope Francis published his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia.
- Swiss Guards, diplomats, cardinals of the Roman Curia, Eastern Catholic patriarchs in full liturgical vestments, and bishops representing nearly every country in the world attended the Mass.
- The election of Bishop Emil Shimoun Nona as Patriarch—now Mar Paul III Nona—concludes a decisive synodal gathering in Rome held from April 9 to 12, 2026, and opens a new chapter for one of Christianity’s most ancient communities.
- The new patriarch’s own biography suggests an awareness of both dimensions, as he has come to embody a Church that increasingly lives beyond its ancestral lands.
What's still developing
- “We always travel back home and visit. But we are also very well established in the diaspora,” he said.
- “There must be job opportunities for Christians to return; otherwise, the invitation alone is not enough,” he said.
- “This has led our people, our Chaldean faithful, to almost lose confidence in the possibility of remaining in Iraq, which deeply saddens us,” Hisham said.
- According to a Cluster 17 poll conducted on October 14 and 15, 65 percent of respondents expressed a “very good” or “fairly good” opinion of Leo XIV, making him the most positively regarded foreign political figure among those surveyed.
- Presided over by Archbishop Habib Hormiz of Basra in his role as Patriarchal Administrator, the synod brought together Chaldean bishops from across the world at a time when their Church faces both internal transition and external pressures of historic magnitude.
- It signals not only a generational transition in leadership but also a recognition that the Chaldean Church today is both rooted in the Middle East and profoundly shaped by its global dispersion.
- That experience—shared by thousands of Chaldean faithful—has become a defining element of his pastoral identity.
- Estimates place the worldwide Chaldean population at around one million faithful, many of whom now reside outside Iraq.
- "With representatives of bishops' conferences from around the world here, the whole Church will be praying for the Pope's health and showing him its support." The woman is fairly confident that the 71-year-old pontiff will recover.
- "I'd noticed that the light in the window of his private chapel had stayed on later than usual during the two days before he announced his hospitalization. I thought he must be preparing to make an important announcement."
- "I often look at the lights in the Apostolic Palace in the evening as I cross St. Peter's Square," said a woman who frequently visits the area.
- Even the liturgical booklet listed the Santo Padre ("Holy Father") as presider.