Chaldean archbishop-elect says fighting delays his consecration

Published: 2003-11-03

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The priest named to be the new Chaldean archbishop of Kirkuk, Iraq, does not know when he will be ordained a bishop because continued fighting has made it difficult to schedule the ceremony. Father Louis Sako was elected archbishop of Kirkuk by the Chaldean bishops' synod in 2002, and Pope John Paul II gave his assent to the election Sept. 29. "I accepted in a spirit of gratuitous service at a difficult time," the 55-year-old Iraqi told Vatican Radio. "We have so many problems," he said in the Nov. 1 interview. "We do not even know how we will be able to celebrate the consecration because there are attacks everywhere." The archbishop-elect, a consultant to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, had been a pastor in Mosul and an elected member of the Mosul provincial civilian council, a group working under the U.S. civilian administration of Iraq to pave the way for a return to civilian rule. The future archbishop said he wants to be a force for "dialogue between Christians and Muslims, to bring the culture of peace and pardon."

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