(ZENIT News / Baghdad, 07.03.2025).- As tensions in the Middle East teeter between escalation and uneasy calm, an Iraqi cardinal has offered a pointed reminder of the heavy cost of foreign-imposed regime change. Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, has urged global leaders to reconsider any strategy that seeks to destabilize Iran from the outside, warning that such plans often deepen chaos rather than resolve it.
In a recent interview with the Vatican’s Fides news agency, Sako reflected on Iraq’s own turbulent history with externally enforced regime change, specifically the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. More than two decades later, he says, the wounds remain open, and many of the promised outcomes—rule of law, security, democracy—never materialized.
«Imposing a new regime is not a solution. True change must come from within, when the people of a country decide it’s time,» Sako said. He cautioned that Israel’s military and political maneuvers aimed at weakening Iran’s leadership risk inflaming the entire region. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire has temporarily suspended hostilities, but the underlying tensions remain unresolved.
According to Sako, the pattern of external intervention has only worsened conditions for ordinary people. “Iraq is still struggling. There is no real citizenship, no consistent law, no lasting stability. Corruption and sectarianism are still rampant,” he noted.
The patriarch’s remarks come as the international community watches closely for signs of a broader conflict between Iran and Israel. While Western officials continue to debate the merits of assertive pressure versus diplomatic engagement, voices like Sako’s remind the world of the human cost often left out of geopolitical calculations.
“For Iraqis—Muslims and Christians alike—the experience of war and foreign interference is not theoretical,” he said. “It has devastated lives, displaced families, and torn the social fabric.” Christians in Iraq, in particular, have been among the most affected. From the destruction wrought by ISIS to the occupation of Christian villages by armed groups, the community has endured repeated waves of persecution and marginalization.
“We have seen our parliamentary seats taken, our homes occupied, and our people forced to leave. Many have given up. But we remain,” Sako explained.
Yet amid these grim realities, the cardinal struck a note of cautious hope. He described peace not as a political prize but as a moral duty and a shared responsibility.
“Peace is a gift—but it must be defended with enthusiasm and conviction. We must reject hatred, violence, and war, and recover our common sense. The international order has collapsed, but that doesn’t mean we stop believing in the value of human dignity,” he said.
Despite ongoing adversity, Sako emphasized that Christians still feel a deep-rooted calling to their homeland. “We believe we have a mission here. That faith sustains us. It allows us to hope, to resist despair, and to work toward a better future.”
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