Patriarch Paul III Nona, the newly installed head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, has pledged to do everything possible to strengthen the Christian community in his homeland. 

Patriarch Paul III was officially installed on Friday, 29th May, at the Cathedral of St Joseph in Baghdad, in a service attended by Vatican representatives, Iraqi government officials and church leaders. The Chaldean Church is the largest Christian community in Iraq.

The patriarch told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need that the continuation of a strong Christian community in the region is "essential".

"We shall do all that lies within our power to strengthen this presence in our homeland of Iraq and throughout the countries of the East… Our sons and daughters in Iraq and in the East – you are the salt of our Church and of this land. Your presence here is a true mission and a testimony to the enduring continuity of our Church in her native and original homeland," he said. 

Followers of Christ have had a presence in the region since Mesopotamia, but many have been driven from Iraq by ISIS (Daesh). The country is currently ranked the 18th most dangerous place to be a Christian by Open Doors.

Patriarch Paul III previously served as Archbishop of Mosul until 2014, when the terror group seized the Nineveh plains. He then shepherded the Chaldean refugee diaspora in Australia and New Zealand for 11 years. Paul III told those forced to flee that their presence in their new countries was "a mission", stating: "You are sent to reaffirm the importance and the power of faith in societies that are all too ready to lose it."

The Patriarch also called for unity among Iraq’s diverse Christian communities, including the Assyrian Church of the East, Armenian, and Syriac Churches, describing their varied traditions as a "richness and not a deficiency." He said: "What unites us ought to be the foundation of our relations with one another, for we are not distant islands separated from one another, but varied pieces within a magnificent mosaic that gives one comprehensive and beautiful form to the faith."

He emphasised that young believers are the "strength and vitality" of the Church. "I know that our young people thirst for faith and long to understand the great questions they carry concerning what they believe and concerning life itself," he said. "When they trust, when they are heard, and when they are truly listened to… they become deeply active in the Church, steadfast in hope, and courageous in proclaiming the faith."