Chaldean Catholic Church

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Chaldean Catholic Church

Classical Syriac: ܥܕܬܐ ܟܠܕܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝܬܐ‎
Classification Eastern Catholic
Orientation Syriac Christianity (Eastern)
Scripture Peshitta
Theology Catholic theology
Governance Holy Synod of the Chaldean Church
Pope Francis
Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako
Region IraqIranTurkeySyria, with diaspora
Language Liturgical: Syriac
Liturgy East Syriac Rite
Headquarters Cathedral of Mary Mother of SorrowsBaghdadIraq
Founder Traces ultimate origins to Thomas the Apostle and the Apostolic Era through Addai and Mari
Origin 1552
Separations Assyrian Church of the East (1692)
Members 616,639 (2018)
Other name(s) Chaldean Patriarchate

 

The Chaldean Catholic Church (Classical Syriac: ܥܕܬܐ ܟܠܕܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝܬܐ‎, ʿīdtha kaldetha qāthuliqethaArabic: الكنيسة الكلدانية‎ al-Kanīsa al-kaldāniyyaLatinEcclesia Chaldaeorum Catholicalit. 'Catholic Church of the Chaldeans') is an Eastern Catholic particular church (sui juris) in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is headed by the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon. Employing in its liturgy the East Syriac Rite in the Syriac language, it is part of Syriac Christianity. Headquartered in the Cathedral of Mary Mother of SorrowsBaghdadIraq, since 1950, it is headed by the Catholicos-Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako. In 2010, it had a membership of 490,371, of whom 310,235 (63.27%) lived in the Middle East (mainly in Iraq).

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, reports that, according to the Iraqi Christian Foundation, an agency of the Chaldean Catholic Church, approximately 80% of Iraqi Christians are of that Church. In its own 2018 Report on Religious Freedom, the U.S. Department of State put the Chaldean Catholics at approximately 67% of the Christians in Iraq. The 2019 Country Guidance on Iraq of the European Asylum Support Office gives the same information as the U.S. Department of State.

 

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