Religious freedom is the heartbeat of America's 249-year history, a principle etched into its founding and vital to its identity. Under the current administration, countering religious persecution abroad must also be a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy.
A community of Christians in northern Iraq might be forgiven if they feel forgotten by the world. Their numbers, already small, are dwindling. Their religious rituals might feel foreign to most Catholics in the West. "Sometimes we think that we have nothing to offer, that we are few in numbers, and dwindling," said Syriac Catholic Archbishop Nathanael Nizar Wadih Semaan of Adiabene, northern Iraq.
Pope Leo XIV appears to have taken to heart a plea from one of his closest neighbors during the conclave--Cardinal Louis Sako, Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq. Seated beside him in the Sistine Chapel, Sako reportedly urged: "Be the pope of the whole church." In other words: not just the pope of Latin-rite Catholics.
Among the processions of pilgrims from all over the world that today once again passed through the splendor of the Vatican Basilica, one stood out at 1 PM, making its way toward the Altar of the Chair: dozens of ministers who would take part in the Holy Qurbana, presided over by the Patriarch of the Chaldean Church, Louis Raphaël I Sako.
In a groundbreaking comparative analysis, historian Murat Kilic from Erzurum Technical University explores striking similarities between the Assyrian victory at the Battle of Waush and the Carthaginian triumph at the Battle of Ticinus.
A team from Heidelberg University excavating in Iraq made a spectacular find: In the throne room of the North Palace of King Ashurbanipal in the ancient city of Nineveh, the archaeologists discovered large portions of a monumental relief that depicts the ruler of the Assyrian empire from the seventh century BC along with two important deities and other figures.