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Sept 21 - Sept 28,2003 |
The Oldest Christians
Followers of St. Thomas preserve a partrimony of faith
By Marika Matalone
Originally Published: 2003-07-06
They call themselves "Children of St. Thomas", as they originated from the preaching done by that apostle among the Middle Eastern populations of what is today Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Baluchistan (42-49 CE). In 53-60 CE evangelization had reached the southwestern coast of India, today's Kerala.
Thanks to the work of St. Thomas and his disciples Thaddeus (known as Addai in Chaldean), Mari, and Aggai, the Chaldean Church was founded in what would become Iraq and the Syro-Malabar Church in India.
After St. Thomas' martyrdom in India, his disciples kept proselytizing and created Christian communities subordinated to the churches of Seleucia and Ctesiphon. These towns were located on opposite sides of the Tigris River, not far from Baghdad.
In the course of the centuries, the Chaldean Church kept its faith in Christ alive, within the limitations posed by the Muslim majority where most of the church members, in fact, live in Iraq.
North of Iraq, Chaldeans, like the Kurds who settled later in the same area, survived wars that have been ravaging the land since 80 CE.
In southern Iraq, another Chaldean community coexists with a majority of Shiite Muslims (62 percent of the population).
In central Iraq, around Baghdad, the majority of the population is made of Arabs, mostly Sunni Muslims (34.5 percent of the 22 million Iraqis).
However, the Chaldean faith is not confined to the Middle East; due to emigration, the Chaldean Church thrives in the communities of the Diaspora. There are over one million Chaldeans worldwide, with 150,000 of them that live in the USA (mostly around Detroit). The same goes for Oceania and Europe, where over 70,000 Chaldean Catholics can be found. Canada accommodates 17,000 faithful, from coast to coast. There are Chaldean communities in Vancouver, Saskatoon, Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Windsor, London, and even Toronto, which has the largest Chaldean community of Ontario.
Tandem interviewed the Archbishop of the Chaldeans in Toronto In order to find out about the Chaldean Church in the world and in Iraq. The Most Reverend Hanna Zora invited us to attend the liturgy in the church of the Good Shepherd, built in Chaldean-Babylonian style. Attending a mass celebrated, according to the Chaldean liturgy, is a highly emotional and unforgettable event. It is almost exclusively celebrated in the Chaldean language, full of ancient sonority and beautiful music.
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