Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid revoked a decree, issued by his predecessor in 2013, that formally recognized Cardinal Louis Raphaël I Sako as the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq.
Born in 1948, Cardinal Sako became Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church in 2013. The church (CNEWA profile) is among the Eastern Catholic churches in full communion with the Holy See.
“Withdrawing the republican decree does not prejudice the religious or legal status of Cardinal Louis Sako, as he is appointed by the Apostolic See,” said Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda.
The decree reportedly follows a meeting between Rashid and Rayan al-Kildani, a Christian militia leader sanctioned by the US for human rights violations. The National, a newspaper based in Abu Dhabi, reported that Cardinal Sako was leaving Baghdad for semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan amid a conflict with al-Kildani over Church properties.