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  Feb 10, 2008

                United in One Church

 

                                  by: Bishop Sarhad Yawsip Jammo

           

 

Having declared their intention to unite with the Catholic Church and restore unity with the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Bishop, clergy, and faithful of the Assyrian Catholic Apostolic Diocese have triggered the initiation of the process that should lead them, by the grace of God, to full communion with the Catholic Church.  

 

            Christians, sharing with each other the fundamental sacraments and articles of faith, most of all being baptized in the Name of the Holy Trinity and having accepted the Lord Jesus as their Savior, possess the solid basis for their belonging to the Christian family; nevertheless, the Catholic Church teaches that being in full communion with her - and thus recognizing the primacy of the Bishop of Rome as pertaining to the structural elements of the ecclesial ministry-belongs to the integrity of Christian doctrine. Therefore, rapprochement between the Catholic Church and other apostolic churches or Christian communities is a very desired and appreciated relationship, but it cannot be the final purpose of dialogue for Christian unity. Full communion and factual ecclesial unity must be the coveted result of serious dialogue and sincere rapprochement.

 

            Furthermore, resolving for unity is a grace from God working in the heart of those who are yearning for the coming of his Kingdom. It is a comforting eschatological sign in a divided world, because it is the prevailing of brotherly love over selfishness, of the common ecclesial heritage over sectarianism and fragmentation; it is the end of suffocating isolation and the breathing of fresh air from the rich garden of the Lord. It is a true spiritual liberation.

 

            Working for achieving church unity--for Chaldeans & Assyrians, the Catholic among them and the Apostolic--is a sign of hope for a better future, ecclesial and civil. For several centuries, these sole remnants of Mesopotamian Christianity have been dividing and subdividing themselves; for the first time, at this critical junction of history, a serious attempt for unity is being pursued with all the zeal and determination of souls motivated by the Lord’s call for Church unity and frustrated with division.

 

As the local Chaldean Catholic bishop, bearing pastoral responsibility for the Chaldeans & Assyrians in my diocese of St. Peter the Apostle in the Western United States, I am compelled by my Episcopal duty to respond positively to the resolution of my Assyrian brothers and sisters, and to do what is in my competence to interact with it. It falls to me, at the same time, to pursue the canonical process with the Holy See and the Chaldean Patriarchate & Synod, in order to formulate and enact a concrete model of ecclesial unity suitable for all concerned.