Dokument #1224973
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Autor)
For general information on the Chaldean
Catholic Church in Iraq and on His Beatitude Patriarch Raphael I
Bidawid, please consult the attached documents. For a brief
biographical overview of Patriarch Raphael I Bidawid please consult
the attached L'Église d'Orient : Chrétiens
d'Irak, d'Iran et de Turquie (1995 pp. 383-390; 396-400),
especially p. 398. For a confirmation of Patriarch Raphael I
Bidawid's position in the Catholic hierarchy, please consult the
attached 1996 and 1997 issues of Annuario Pontifico and
the 1996 issue of Almanach Populaire Catholique (p.
433).
The following information was provided
during a 3 June 1997 telephone interview with the Vicar General of
the Chaldean Catholic Diocese of the United States who recently
returned from a Synod of the Chaldean Catholic Church in
Lebanon.
The Vicar General stated that His Beatitude
Patriarch Raphael I Bidawid holds the highest position in the
Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq.
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum.
Reference
Vicar General, Chaldean Catholic Diocese
of the United States, Troy, Michigan. 3 June 1997. Telephone
interview.
Attachments
Agence France Presse (AFP). 17 March
1997. "Catholic Chaldean Church to Hold May Synod in Lebanon."
(NEXIS)
_____. 4 July 1995. Eastern Time. Farouk
Choukri. "Pope Opposes Embargo on Iraq's Innocent." (NEXIS)
Almanach Populaire Catholique
[Montréal]. 1996. Ste-Anne de Beaupré:
Québecor l'Éclaireur, p. 433.
Annuario Pontifico [Vatican].
1997. Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, pp. 1102-1103.
_____. 1996. Vatican: Libreria Editrice
Vaticana, pp. 1106-1107.
Associated Press (AP). 20 November 1994.
Eastern Time. Neil MacFarquhar. "Wars, Sanctions Push Christianity
Monirity Out of Iraq." (NEXIS)
LeCoz, Raymond. 1995.
L'Église d'Orient : Chrétiens d'Irak, d'Iran et
de Turquie. Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, pp. 383-390;
396-400.
United Press International (UPI). 7
September 1995. BC Cycle. "Iraqi Patriarch to See Pope on Embargo."
(NEXIS)