The former Chaldean Eparch of Australia was installed as the global Chaldean Patriarch on 29 May in Baghdad.
Mar Polis III Nona was elected in Rome in April and returned to Sydney briefly before taking on his new responsibilities.
The ceremonies of the installation took place in St Joseph’s Chaldean Cathedral on ‘Golden Friday’, a feast in the Chaldean rite commemorating the first miracle worked by the Apostles.
It was attended by patriarchs, bishops, and priests from a number of Eastern traditions, faithful from Iraq and abroad, as well as the Apostolic Nuncio and the head of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches at the Vatican.
From Sydney came Bishop Richard Umbers, Maronite Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay OLM, and Melkite Bishop Robert Rabbat.
Patriarch Nona thanked all those who had supported his vocation, including his mother.
“Your dedication, and your life, that knew nothing but prayer, chanting, mercy, and quietness, are the reason for all that I am today,” he told her.
He had a special word of thanks for Australia. “They were beautiful years that we spent together in service, prayer, teaching, and in a journey of faith and humanity,” he said.
Patriarch Nona’s homily was both a deep theological reflection on the challenges faced by the ancient Chaldean church as well as a bold program for renewal.
He began with a meditation on his patriarchal motto, “Do not be afraid; only believe”.
“True confrontation with fear is not to deny it but to transform it into a point of encounter with God,” he said.
“This happens when I say, ‘Yes, I am afraid, but despite this, I choose to trust.’”
Like all Christians, the Chaldean church in Iraq suffered terribly from the onslaught of the Islamic State a decade ago.
Patriarch Nona was Archbishop of Mosul at the time and had to flee. ISIS practically obliterated Christianity from his diocese. Many Chaldeans have emigrated from Iraq.
But Patriarch Nona insists that the Chaldean church is a vital part of the Middle East.
“The existence and continuity of our Chaldean Church in the East, and most especially in Iraq, are essential and foundational for our perseverance as a church and as an ancient people with a deep-rooted history and civilisation,” he declared.
“We shall do all that lies within our power to strengthen this presence in our homeland of Iraq and throughout the countries of the East.”
Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, assured him of the Vatican’s support at the installation.
“We do not want, nor can we accept, that the voice of the Chaldean Church be silenced because of historical or political circumstances,” he said.
However, Patriarch Nona also insisted that the presence of a Chaldean diaspora in distant countries like the United States, Australia, Sweden, and Canada is an opportunity for evangelisation.
It is “a new apostolic hope entrusted to those lands,” he said. “We must see the church as sent forth for evangelisation, or for a renewed evangelisation, of societies that need to hear once again the message of faith, with all the reverence, spiritual strength, and fidelity that distinguish our Chaldean and Eastern Christian witness.”
And he exhorted Chaldean communities abroad to view their new homes as a God-given mission.
“You are sent to reaffirm the importance and the power of faith in societies that are all too ready to lose it.”
Patriarch Nona insisted on the importance of defending the Chaldean church’s traditions.
“We are not children of the present day alone; rather, our faith bears a distinctively Eastern character and way of life whose roots stretch back 2000 years and, in cultural and civilisational terms, even further.
“Therefore, our rites, our liturgical order, and our Chaldean language are a source of rightful pride, for they shape us into who we are as believers marked by distinction.
“We are not better than others; rather, we are distinguished by our vision, our ecclesial identity, our rite, our language, and our manner of expressing our faith.
“Our tradition, with all its richness and fullness, bestows upon our faith its living expression in the world of today.
“It grants us a distinct identity in a time of dissolving identities, with all the dissolution of values and principles that follows.”
Bishop Umbers told The Catholic Weekly the the installation was “among the most moving ceremonies I have attended.”
“As the youngest patriarch ever in the Catholic and Orthodox world, he already bears the weight of his people’s history,” the bishop said.
“His Beatitude gave a heartrendingly honest address sharing about his late father, and his mother’s life of prayer and ancient chant.
“He spoke of the diaspora as a new apostolic hope and as a prospect for re-evangelising societies that are becoming lukewarm in faith, reminding the clergy that they are apostles and fathers of souls and not simple functionaries.
“He evoked the need for genuine brotherhood and fraternity with the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East.
“The Chaldean Church faces an existential challenge in its ancestral homeland. Yet this young patriarch steps forward with the serenity of a man who has already answered the question posed by his own address: Do not let fear write the final chapter of your story.”
