The Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate (2)

The first primitive church Sayidat-al-Najat had been built in 1952, as a modest place of worship, just before the cathedral was erected in 1968, after 3 years of construction works. On October 31, 2010, one of the worst attacks against Iraqi Christians took place in this cathedral Sayidat-al-Najat. During Mass, 47 Christian people were brutally shot dead by a commando unit of 5 ISIS jihadis. [...]

Fragments of History

A Syriac-Catholic [Chaldean] presence in Baghdad was attested in the 19th century.  However, the Syriac-Catholic community really started at the beginning of the 20th century, after the massacre of Christian, Armenian, and Assyrian-Chaldean communities in the genocide by the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1917.

On the other hand, a large number of Syriac-Catholics who had settled up north, in the Nineveh province and in the nowadays Iraqi Kurdistan, left these rural areas to move southwards to Baghdad, attracted by the urban and economic development of the city.

In the first half of the 20th century, in 1942, the first Syriac-Catholic parish in Baghdad was created, in the ancient district of Agd-al-Nasara. The bishop of Mosul came here from time to time, to celebrate Mass. It is only in 1952 that a titular Syriac-Catholic bishop was appointed there, meeting the needs of the growing population of this denominational community.

Beside the cathedral Sayidat-al-Najat built in 1968, another Syriac-Catholic church, St Joseph (Mar Yousif) was built at the same time in the Mansour district, followed in 1982 by the church of Mar Benham. In total, the Syriac-Catholic community counts four churches, among which one is no longer in use, the church of Agd-al-Nasara.

History of the Construction

[...] There was a urge for building the cathedral Sayidat-al-Najat, as a large number of Christian families, including Syriac-Catholic ones, moved from the ancient and densely populated Baghdad’s town centre to the new district of Karadah, modern and attractive, which progressively became the gravity centre for the Syriac-Catholic community life.

Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, the cathedral Sayidat-al-Najat (Our Lady of Perpetual Help) was consecrated on March 17th1968 by Youhanna Bakose, Syriac-Catholic bishop of Baghdad, in the presence of the bishops of all the Iraqi capital’s Christian communities.

The architect and designer of the church was a Polish man named Kafka. [...] The architect’s intention is easy to guess at first sight. This cathedral-church looks like a boat, with its large cross raised as a mast, supporting an arch-shaped sail. The evangelical symbol is obvious: the cathedral Sayidat-al-Najat is a boat, carrying worshippers on board, just like Jesus on the boat with his disciples. [...]

October 31, 2010: A Tragedy 

On October 31, 2010 was committed in the cathedral Sayidat-al-Najat the most horrible attack against Iraqi Christians. A group of 5 to 15 jihadis from the so called Islamic State [ISIS] of Iraq massacred 47 people (children, women and men, among them two priests, Thaier Abdalla and Wassim Sabieh) and injured many others. Lacerated bodies covered the ground all over the church. The walls were riddled with bullets and blasts. It was an inconceivable tragedy.

Witness of this disaster, Pios Cacha, episcopal vicar for the Syriac-Catholic dioceses of Baghdad, was one of the first people to enter the cathedral after the Iraqi security forces’ intervention. He took a picture, one by one, of the 47 dead bodies that littered the cathedral’s floor.

This attack was a watershed event, the world then became suddenly aware of how Iraqi Christians were threatened, abused, and persecuted by Islamic terrorists’ and mafia groups. [...]

The Restoration Erased the Stigma 

Since then, the cathedral Sayidat-al-Najat has been refurbished and even adorned to overcome the massacre’s scars. Overcoming does not mean forgetting. A memorial has been erected in an adjacent room, where sullied sacred objects can be seen, as well as some of the personal belongings of Frs. Thaier Abdalla and Wassim Sabieh.

And indeed the cathedral looks brand new. The restoration decided by Matti Shaba Matoka, archbishop of Baghdad, was given to the architect Zeyad. Mar Ephrem Yousif Mansour Abba, appointed in March 2011 Archbishop of Baghdad, supervised the building and renovation works. On December 14, 2012, the cathedral was inaugurated in the presence of nearly all Eastern Christian patriarchs.

In concrete terms, wood panelling covers all the inside pillars and walls. The name of the martyrs is soberly carved in the wood all around the nave. Natural light seeps in through multicolor windows, granting the place with a beaming atmosphere. Large ceremonial chandeliers fill in the visual space and give it its magnificence. [...]

A unique sign of the river of blood, a red marble line runs on the floor from the altar, crosses the nave and ends upon the esplanade, at the foot of the cathedral’s steps.

Some Elements for a Demographic Analysis

Before the October 31, 2010 attack, insecurity was already very high and growing. However,  5,000 families used to be regular attendees of the cathedral Sayidat-al-Najat; 7,000 families at Mar Benham; and 2,000 at Mar Youssif church. In total, they represented around 14, 000 Syriac-Catholic families in Baghdad.

Since the attack, the demographic loss has never ceased. In 2018, no more than 1,000 families attend one of those three churches of the Syriac-Catholic community in Baghdad.

This exodus goes on inexorably, because fear remains. The terrorist attack at Sayidat-al-Najatis is a trauma that has not been overcome.