His Beatitude Cardinal Sako’s message for the New year 2022: Peace prevails when it becomes part of personal behavior

Below you can find the message for the New year 2022 issued by His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Mar Louis Raphael Sako, Patriarch of Babylon for the Chaldeans.

The first day of every year is dedicated to peace, “the hope” of all people who have been exhausted by conflict, tension, disease (the Corona pandemic), hunger and thirst, due to which people are facing a slow death.

As Pope Francis stated in his message, on this occasion, people need “urgently” a new birth and a better future, since their “hope” is to enjoy justice and peace.

Peace is achieved when it is part of personal behavior. This requires the ability to practice tolerance, forgiveness, solidarity and collaboration.

In Iraq we have been through very difficult circumstances, not only after the fall of the regime, but throughout our history. We faced challenges and struggles that overwhelmed people and the country.  Now it is time for us to seriously review our thinking and our stances to get out of this deadly situation. Change takes place and good prevails when we stand up against evil, do not give up, and when each person plays his role as it should be. Peace is a human, religious and national requirement. This begins, as Pope Francis stated in his letter, “from our hearts and our relations with the family, society and environment, to the relations between peoples and countries”.

Let us plant in our hearts great values such as peace, tolerance, forgiveness and love. Let us be peace makers, as Christ wanted us to be, as well as being loyal to our homeland, which represents our identity and history. If an evil group turned it into the “current situation”, we are more than them, to bring it back to how it was and even better. We are responsible for each other. We should not stop at divisions and tensions, but rather to change our situation with confidence. Let’s work to reform education, health and infrastructure…

Change begins with education at home, schools, Churches and mosques, and the media, focusing on the fact that we are diverse brothers and that we must live the real happiness by loving and respecting each other as brothers and sisters. Since Iraq is our homeland, and our history. It is true that the whole earth is our homeland, but there is a special part of the world called Iraq “is our homeland”, and we must preserve it and work for its prosperity and maintain its diversity.

Happy new year all

This message was originally published on the Chaldean Patriarchate of Babylon website.