Chaldean patriarch emphasizes: the priesthood is ‘not a business’ July 9
10 July 2013: Less than six months after his election as head of the Chaldean Catholic
Church, Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako has rebuked priests, who do not focus on the
spiritual care of their people. “Some priests have turned their parishes in little
empires,” he said in a July 3 letter, and others “have left Iraq without the bishop’s
permission, have applied for political asylum, or have left their Church and joined
another church. Some do not celebrate Mass except on Saturdays and Sundays. Some do
not preach or, when they do, they turn their homilies into insults or requests for
money.” The situation “cannot continue, for priesthood is a mission, not a profession
or a business,” he added. Source: CWN