Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph (Baghdad)

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The Cathedral of Saint Joseph ( Arabic كاتدرائية القديس يوسف الكلدانية), also Joseph's Cathedral or Mar Yusif ( Arabic كاتدرائية مار يوسف or كنيسة مار يوسف الكلدانية), is a church in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad that was consecrated in 1956. It is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Baghdad and the Patriarchate of Babylon of the Chaldean Catholic Church .

Location

The Chaldean Catholic St. Joseph's Cathedral is located in the Karrada district at 38 m above sea level, about 900 m east of the east bank of the Tigris and about 600 m south of the Syrian Catholic Sayidat al-Nejat Cathedral .

history

The first Chaldean Catholic church was completed in 1843 in the Baghdad district of Agd al-Nasara, but it had to be rebuilt due to flooding by the Tigris . In 1889 the five meters higher Mater Dolorosa Cathedral was built on the same site , which was consecrated in 1898 and was the Chaldean cathedral of Baghdad until the 1950s. In the middle of the 20th century, most Christians left the Agd al-Nasara district and largely settled in the new Karrada district. The Chaldean Patriarchate of Babylon decided to build a new cathedral here and Patriarch Joseph Ghanima laid the foundation stone on Holy Cross Day in 1952. The new Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph was consecrated by him in 1956. Since then, the cathedral has been renovated several times, most recently in 2018 under Patriarch Louis Raphaël I. Sako .

architecture

The Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph faces northeast-southwest. At the southwest end there is a dome, while the rest of the nave is covered by a gable roof. At the southeast end of the building is the main entrance and to the right (northwest) of it is a rectangular, slender bell tower. Above the entrance there is a statue of St. Joseph and to the left of it in Syriac (Aramaic), to the right in Arabic and on the bell tower in English "Chaldean Cathedral St. Joseph" (St. Joseph Chaldean Cathedral,كاتدرائية القديس يوسف الكلدانية). The church building is made of reinforced concrete and kept simple. From the outside it is reminiscent of a basilica , but has only one large hall without columns. On the north-west side there is a side aisle, above which light comes into the interior of the church through numerous windows. There are more windows above the entrance and on the dome in the southwest, above the altar.

Diocese and bishop

The Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph is the cathedral church of the Patriarchate of Babylon of the Chaldeans ( Patriarchatus Babylonensis Chaldaeorum ) and the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Baghdad ( Archidioecesis Babylonensis Chaldaeorum ). The Catholic website Gcatholic.org also mentions the Chaldean Mater Dolorosa cathedral in Agd al-Nasara as the seat of the patriarchate and the archbishopric. According to other sources, including Mesopotamia Heritage, the St. Joseph Church in the Karrada district, which also has "Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph" written in large letters in three languages, is the Chaldean Cathedral of Baghdad. The new Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon, Louis Raphaël I. Sako , was enthroned here in 2015 . The Patriarchate of Babylon had about 85,000 believers in 21 parishes with 59 priests in 1949 and about 150,000 in 22 parishes with 28 priests in 1970. In 1980 the Archdiocese of Baghdad comprised around 250,000 believers in 28 parishes with 34 priests, in 1990 around 481,000 in 30 parishes with 30 priests, in 2004 around 130,000 believers in 26 parishes with 34 priests and in 2015 around 150,000 believers in 18 parishes with 22 priests. In 2017 there were around 200,000 believers in 18 parishes with 15 priests. Louis Raphaël I. Sako, born on July 4, 1948 in Zaxo , has been Baghdad Archbishop and Patriarch of Babylon since February 1, 2013 .

Possible confusion

There is another Chaldean Church of St. Joseph in Baghdad, namely the Church of St. Joseph the Patron Saint of Workers (كنيسة مار يوسف شفيع العمال) on the east side of "Frühlingsstraße" (شارع الربيع) about 300 m south of the "Jordanstraße" (شارع الأردن) and the "police tunnel" (نفق الشرطة) in the al-Amiriya district. There is another Catholic St. Joseph's Cathedral in Baghdad, the Latin Cathedral of St. Joseph, not far from the old Chaldean Mater Dolorosa Cathedral . In 2020, the Catholic website Gcatholic.org wrongly classifies the location of the Chaldean St. Joseph's Cathedral as the location of the Latin St. Joseph's Cathedral. In Iraq there is also a second Chaldean Catholic St. Joseph's Cathedral , the Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph in Ankawa near Erbil .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Pascal Meguesyan: Mar Yousef (St Joseph) cathedral in Baghdad. Mesopotamia Heritage, March 2018.
  2. ^ Church of Mary Mother of Sorrows - Baghdad, Iraq. Gcatholic.org, May 19, 2020, accessed July 15, 2020.
  3. ↑ St. Joseph Chaldean Catholic Church. Google Maps, accessed July 23, 2020.
  4. ^ New Chaldean patriarch enthroned in Iraq. [Louis Raphaël I. Sako] You Tube, July 31, 2015.
  5. ↑ Entry on Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph on catholic-hierarchy.org
  6. ^ Entry on Archdiocese of Baghdad (Chaldean) on catholic-hierarchy.org ; Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  7. ↑ Chaldean Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baghdad, Iraq - Archbishop Louis Raphaël I. Sako. Gcatholic.org, May 12, 2020, accessed July 15, 2020.
  8. ↑ Chaldean Patriarchal See of Babylon, Iraq - Archbishop Louis Raphaël I. Sako. Gcatholic.org, May 12, 2020, accessed July 15, 2020.
  9. ↑ Cathedral of St. Joseph - Baghdad, Iraq. Gcatholic.org, May 19, 2020, accessed August 2, 2020.

Coordinates: 33 ° 18 ′ 5 "  N , 44 ° 25 ′ 41.3"  E