This Saturday, March 6, during his apostolic trip to Iraq, Pope Francis will celebrate Holy Mass in the Chaldean Cathedral of San José, built in the 1950s after the massive arrival of Christians to the Karada district, in the east of the capital Baghdad.
The mass will be held in Chaldean rite, and the languages used will be Italian, Chaldean and Arabic. The Chaldean Cathedral of Saint Joseph is one of the largest Chaldean temples in Baghdad. It is located 38 meters above sea level and 900 meters from the eastern bank of the Tigris River.
The foundation Mesopotamia Heritage relates that The first stone of this cathedral was laid by the Chaldean Patriarch Mar Yousef VII Ghanima on September 14, 1952, the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
The temple It was built for the Christians who left the neighborhood of Agd al-Nasara, where the old Cathedral of María Madre de los Dolores is located.. Its consecration and inauguration was celebrated in 1956 by Patriarch Yousef VII Ghanima.
After its inauguration, the clergy of the old Cathedral of María Madre de los Dolores began to celebrate Masses there. In 1959, the first rector, Fr. Yousif Babana, was appointed and since then ten priests have directed the place. The Chaldean Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Baghdad has been restored and beautified several times. The last time was in 2018, under the supervision of the Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Cardinal Luis Rafael I Sako.
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The style of the Chaldean Cathedral of San José
The cathedral points out Mesopotamia Heritage, it is oriental in style. It has a reinforced concrete structure, with a sloping roof and decorated with stained glass.
“The interior is organized respecting the three conventional parts of the churches of eastern Syria, but in a modern style: the part reserved for the assembly, the choir and the altar with a carved wooden front in the center. In the right side aisle is the icon of the Madonna Hodegetria, on the left side the icon of Saint Joseph with the carpenter’s square, symbol of his justice, and the lily, symbol of his purity, together with the adolescent Jesus ”, points out Mesopotamia Heritage.
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About the Chaldean Catholic Church
Most of the Christians in Iraq are of the Chaldean rite. The Chaldean Church it is an Eastern Catholic Church that is in full communion with Rome. Before the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, there were approximately 1.5 million Iraqi Christians. Today, that number is believed to be less than 500,000. The rise of the Islamic State led many Christians to flee the country. Iraq has more than 38 million inhabitants, the vast majority are Muslims.
According to the Mesopotamia Heritage foundation the number of Christians is much lower and barely 400 thousand Chaldeans would still be living in Iraq, divided between Baghdad, Kurdistan, the plain of Nineveh and Basra.
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