Patriarch accuses Vatican of not respecting Eastern Churches

The Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon, Cardinal Louis Raphaël I Sako, told The Tablet that the Dicastery for Eastern Churches fails to treat Eastern Catholic patriarchs as heads of their own sui iuris Churches.

“They should know they are there to serve the Churches,” the Patriarch said. “They have to respect our identity.”

Cardinal Sako complained of “a lot of bureaucracy”, with correspondence unanswered for months at a time, and a lack of respect for the patriarchs who “precede all bishops of any degree everywhere in the world” according to the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.

Dealings with the patriarchs “should be very polite and very respectful”, the cardinal said, suggesting the dicastery does not understand their status and the difficulties of their situation. 

“We are like fathers,” he continued. “We are not businessmen. We are pastors.”

Pope Leo will hold a private meeting with the five Catholic patriarchs at the nunciature in Beirut on December 1, during his visit to Turkey and Lebanon. The Tablet understands that Cardinal Sako, who is based in Baghdad, Iraq, expected to meet Pope Leo privately during a visit to Rome last week, and was disappointed this did not take place.

In his remarks to The Tablet, the Patriarch suggested curial officials were not best placed to advise the Pope about Eastern Churches.

“The Pope should be well informed by the dicasteries,” he said, complaining of a lack of local understanding and “practical experience” in the Vatican, with little representation from the Middle East and Asia.

“When they speak, they speak occidental speech.”

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Patriarch Sako: Vatican does not respect Eastern Churches (By Patrick Hudson/The Tablet)