Pope Leo XIV Tells Bishops "You, called to be tireless peacemakers in the name of Jesus, help us to clearly proclaim that God blesses no conflict" FULL TEXT

As they visit Rome for the election of their new Patriarch, members of the Chaldean Church of Baghdad met with Pope Leo XIV in the Apostolic Palace on Friday morning. The Holy Father expressed his pleasure at being present with them during this “time of precious ecclesial discernment," and he extended his greeting to the clergy, religious men and women, seminarians, and the entire faith community of the Chaldean Church around the world.FULL TEXT ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
TO THE SYNOD OF THE CHURCH OF BAGHDAD OF THE CHALDEANS

Friday, April 10, 2026
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Your Excellencies, dear Brother Bishops,

Peace be with you! It is wonderful to meet you here in Rome, gathered for the celebration of your Synod, aimed at fulfilling a fundamental act for the life of the Church of Baghdad of the Chaldeans: the election of the new Patriarch. I am pleased to meet you in this time of precious ecclesial discernment. Through you, I extend heartfelt greetings to the priests, men and women religious, seminarians, and all the dear faithful of the Chaldean Church, both in your own territory and in the numerous diaspora throughout the world. I know that many are spiritually united to this moment, participating intensely in prayer.

Your Church has its roots in the primitive apostolic Church, representing an ancient and fruitful tradition that, intimately linked to the source of salvation, carried the Gospel beyond the confines of the Roman Empire, developing a Christianity rich in faith, culture, and missionary spirit, even as far as India and China. You are the guardians of a living and noble memory, of a faith passed down through the centuries with courage and fidelity. Your history is glorious, but also marked by harsh trials: wars, persecutions, and tribulations that have struck your communities and scattered many of the faithful throughout the world. And it is precisely in these wounds that the luminous witness of faith shines forth, for if your Church bears the scars of history, it is the Risen Lord himself who shows us how the most painful wounds can become, in Him, signs of hope and new life. With you, I can make my own the words of Saint Ephrem and say to Christ: "Glory to you who have made your cross a bridge over death. […] Glory to you who have clothed yourself in the body of mortal man and transformed it into a source of life for all mortals" (Sermon on the Lord, 9).

Dear Brothers, in the hope of Easter, which invites us to fearlessly face new and unexpected challenges, your Synod represents a time of grace and profound responsibility. You are called to elect a Patriarch at a delicate and complex, and at times controversial, moment. I invite you to be guided by the Holy Spirit, finding harmony in Him and seeking not what appears most useful in the eyes of the world, but what is most in accord with the heart of Christ.

May the new Patriarch be, first and foremost, a father in faith and a sign of communion with all and among all. It might seem that living according to the Gospel, that is, in meekness and the patient pursuit of unity, goes against the grain and at times even counterproductive, but in reality it proves to be the wisest path, because love is the only force that conquers evil and defeats death. What prevails and never ends is that charity of which the apostle Paul speaks: patient, persevering, capable of excusing and enduring all things, without ever disrespecting anyone (cf. 1 Cor 13:4-8).

May His Beatitude be a man of the Beatitudes: not called to extraordinary gestures and to cause outcry, but to a daily holiness, made up of honesty, mercy, and purity of heart. May he be a Pastor capable of listening and accompanying, because authority in the Church is always service, never hegemony. And if the world or the surrounding context should lead you to this, do not be deceived, but always return to the fruitful and prophetic simplicity of the Gospel. May the Patriarch be an authentic leader, close to the people, not a flashy and detached figure. May he be a man rooted in prayer, capable of bearing the weight of difficulties with realism and hope, a master of pastoral care who identifies concrete paths for the good of the people of God together with his brother Bishops, in that spirit of harmony that must characterize a patriarchal Church, whose authority is represented by the Synod of Bishops presided over by the Patriarch, a promoter of unity in charity, in full cohesion with the Successor of the Apostle Peter.

In light of the events that have marked your Church in recent years, I feel with particular intensity the responsibility of the moment you are living. And I would like to say to you: I am with you. May the trials you are experiencing challenge you to offer a response enlightened by faith and marked by communion, even towards Christians of other confessions, true brothers and sisters in the faith with whom it is good to establish relationships of authentic sharing. In this way, you will also be a great example and encouragement for your dear and admirable people, whom I carry in my heart and for whom I pray.

In gratefully acknowledging the many contributions that the various Patriarchs have made to the Chaldean Church – I am also referring to the significant contributions of His Beatitude Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako and the notable efforts he has made – I feel that this is a time of spiritual renewal, a renewal faithful to your precious and unique traditions, which must be safeguarded. I think of the richness of your liturgical and spiritual patrimony, and in this regard I wish to echo what the Council affirmed: "Let everyone know that knowing, venerating, preserving and supporting the rich liturgical and spiritual patrimony of the Eastern Churches is of the utmost importance for the faithful preservation of the integral Christian tradition" ( Unitatis redintegratio , 15).

Allow me to offer a few more fraternal and paternal reminders. I urge you to be attentive and transparent in the administration of your goods, sober, measured, and responsible in your use of the mass media , and prudent in your public statements, so that every word and action contributes to building—and not harming—ecclesial communion and the Church's witness. Take to heart the formation of priests, your first collaborators in the ministry: support them with your closeness, building with them and for them a concrete and tangible fraternity. And help, above all by your example, consecrated persons to safeguard the ineffable gifts of obedience and chastity. Accompany the lay faithful, providing them with pastoral care, so that they may feel encouraged, despite all trials, to remain steadfast in the faith received from the Fathers and to remain in their territories. This is important for the entire Church, because the regions where the light of faith— Orientale lumen— arose cannot do without believers in Jesus, Christians, who are to the Middle East as stars are to the sky. May the clouds obscuring this light disperse: Christians throughout the Middle East must be respected, not just in words: may they enjoy true religious freedom and full citizenship, without being treated as guests or second-class citizens!

Brothers and sisters, you are signs of hope in a world marked by absurd and inhuman violence. These acts, driven by greed and hatred, are now spreading ferociously in the very lands that witnessed the birth of salvation, in the sacred places of the Christian East, desecrated by the blasphemy of war and the brutality of business, with no regard for people's lives, which are considered at best a byproduct of their own self-interest. But no interest can be worth the lives of the weakest, of children, of families; no cause can justify the shedding of innocent blood. You, called to be tireless peacemakers in the name of Jesus, help us to clearly proclaim that God blesses no conflict; to cry out to the world that those who are followers of Christ, the Prince of Peace, never side with those who yesterday wielded the sword and today launch bombs; to remember that it is not military action that will create spaces of freedom or times of peace, but only the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue between peoples.

Your mission is great: to proclaim the risen Christ even in contexts of death, to be a living presence of faith and charity, to keep hope alive where it seems to be fading. Do not be discouraged: the Lord walks with you. I thank you for what you do and I accompany you, especially through the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches. I entrust this Synod and the election of the new Patriarch to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of Saint Thomas the Apostle, and of his disciples Addai and Mari, authors of a splendid Anaphora that remains your pride. May the Holy Spirit enlighten you and guide you in your decisions. Upon you and all the faithful of the Chaldean Church, I heartily invoke the Lord's blessing.

Source: Translation from https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2026/04/10/0273/00582.html

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