Chaldean church elects Baghdad-based archbishop as new patriarch

Published: 2003-12-03

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Holding an extraordinary synod at the Vatican, the 22 bishops of the Chaldean Catholic Church elected Archbishop Emmanuel-Karim Delly, a retired auxiliary of Baghdad, Iraq, to be their church's new patriarch. The prelate, who has taken the name Patriarch Karim III, was elected Dec. 3 and was granted formal communion with Pope John Paul II later the same day, the Vatican press office said. The Chaldean Patriarchate of Babylon is based in Iraq, where the majority of Chaldean Catholics live. The election at the Vatican came three months after the bishops failed during a 15-day meeting in Baghdad to elect a successor to Patriarch Raphael Bidawid, who died in early July. Patriarch Karim, 76, was born in Telkaif, Iraq, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1952. He was ordained a bishop in 1963 and named an archbishop in 1967.

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