As the Iraqi army began an offensive to retake Mosul from the Islamic
State, Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako appealed for
national unity.
Expressing concern over “voices of division, inflexibility, and
breakup,” he said, “I strongly believe that we Iraqis are one family,
despite of our different affiliations,” as he called for a “genuine and
civil democracy that respects everyone.”
“I pray: may God protect us, shorten our suffering, preserve the
purity of our human kinship, and watch over the unity of our beloved
country,” he added.