Chaldean patriarch suspends 12 monks, priests

October 23, 2014

The head of the Chaldean Catholic Church has published a decree suspending six monks and six priests.

In September, Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako had demanded that all priests and religious who had left Iraq without permission return within 30 days or face sanctions.

Noting that the priests left Iraq for Australia, Canada, Sweden, and the United States, the patriarch said that “the objective of our decree is to end the illegal exit of the priests from their eparchies.”

He added that the suspensions would be reviewed if the monks returned to their monasteries and the priests returned to Iraq.

 

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Further information:

• Patriarchal Decree (Chaldean Patriarchate)
• Chaldean leader vows to discipline priests who leave Iraq without bishops' permission (CWN, 10/21)
• Patriarch reprimands priests who have left Iraq without permission (CWN, 9/24)