The President of Iraq has revoked a decade-old decree that officially recognized Cardinal Louis Sako as the head of the Catholic Church in the country.
Following the repeal, Cardinal Sako withdrew from his seat in the capital and will relocate to a monastery in the northern region of the country.
The Cardinal released a statement lamenting the situation in Iraq as “unprecented political, national and moral chaos” and saying the withdrawl of the decree was “unfair.”
The Iraqi President publicly said that revoking the decree was a “constitutional” matter that changes nothing of the Cardinal's status. The President then met with the Chargé d’Affaires of the Vatican Embassy in Iraq who said the Holy See does not have any objections regarding the procedures of the Presidency.
AT
