Chaldean Synod called to Rome to elect new Patriarch.

Vatican City--John Paul II has called the Synod of the Bishops of the Chaldean Church to meet Dec. 2-3 in the Vatican to elect the new patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans.

The Pope's decision came in virtue of Canon 72 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, explained Vatican press-office director Joaquin Navarro-Valls. The patriarchal see of the Chaldean Church is in Baghdad, Iraq.

The 22 bishops of the synod met in August to appoint the successor of Patriarch Raphael Bidawid, who died July 7. Such a process followed the custom of the Eastern patriarchal churches.

Canon 72 provides for the election by a two-thirds vote in the first ballot or by an absolute majority after a certain number of votes. If the election does not take place in the first 15 days from the opening of the synod, Paragraph 2 of the canon establishes that the case goes to the Roman Pontiff.

Christians in Iraq number 800,000, about 3% of the population, but perhaps as many as half of these have fled the country during the last two decades. Of these, Chaldean Catholics constitute over 70%. The Baghdad community has about 350,000 faithful.

The official language of the Chaldean liturgy is Aramaic. As the faithful normally speak Arabic, the celebration of the liturgy is bilingual. There are Chaldean communities in the United States, Canada, Europe and Oceania. (Zenit, Oct. 29, 2003)