Chaldean patriarch, visiting New Zealand, urges prayers for peace

Published: 2005-07-21

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (CNS) -- Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel-Karim Delly of Baghdad, Iraq, urged Catholics to pray for peace, especially in Middle East countries. About 600 Chaldean Catholic families, friends and invited guests joined the patriarch at the opening of the first Chaldean church in New Zealand, St. Addai the Apostle Church in the Auckland suburb of Papatoetoe. Almost all of New Zealand's Chaldean Catholics emigrated from Iraq, and during the July 15 Mass, the patriarch urged those in attendance to be loyal subjects, law-abiding citizens and commit to the law and morals of New Zealand. "You must feel proud to contribute to a country that provided you a home when your own country neglected you and caused you to leave it," he said. The patriarch called the consecration of the new church "an occasion where everyone is called to be a temple of God."

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