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=> Incomplete Picture (an editorial in the Chaldean News)

Incomplete Picture (an editorial in the Chaldean News)

Posted by Jeff (Guest) - Sunday, March 12 2006, 19:07:24 (CET) from 69.14.30.71 - d14-69-71-30.try.wideopenwest.com Commercial - Windows XP - Mozilla Website: Website title:

The Chaldean News - March 2006 Page 13 yourLetters "Incomplete Picture" Regarding "Changing faces": First of all, the section entitled, "The role of the Church," hardly speaks about the Church. There is much to be said about the Church and its role in the maintenance of the identity of the Chaldean people, but nothing was said. A case in point: many Chaldeans in the early part of the 20th century, that is, the early 1900s, had not only immigrated to the United States but also to Mexico. There is one claim that there might have been more Chaldean immigrants in Mexico at one time than in the United States. But for whatever reason, the Chaldean Patriarch sent a priest to the United States and not to Mexico. Look at the results today! Look at the Chaldean identity and faith in the United States, while at the same time look at the Chaldean identity in Mexico today. We only hear of a few remnants here and there that have tried to maintain their ethnic heritage, to a limited success. The majority, however, have been lost. Without the Church, the language and the ethnicity of the Chaldean people would have been lost. Secondly, most of the article before the section "Does faith define ethnicity?" only talks about language. It does not really mention the richness of the rest of our culture, and it does not talk about the richness of the language, but only talks about the few ways that some are attempting to keep it alive. My third comment is a more complex complaint. In the last section, "Does faith define ethnicity?" the question is left unanswered and there is no balance between points of view. There is no representation or treatment of the Catholic side of the debate. I am not trying to be an apologist and defend the Chaldean Catholic Church, but the fact that there was only one side to the story is disturbing to me as a Catholic, as well as a writer. In this section you interviewed a Chaldean man who is studying theology at a Protestant college. He talked about the persecution he has endured for converting away from the Catholic faith. He talked about how his life has been threatened by those who did not understand his faith. And he talked about the Catholic Church avoiding the Bible, and considering those who read it to be in some sort of a cult. I am studying theology at a Catholic seminary. I read the Bible almost every day. In every one of my classes at the Seminary we use the Bible. At every Chaldean mass, and every mass celebrated by Catholics around the world, there are at least two readings, if not more, from the bible. Also, it is funny that the person that you have quoted to be a "Chaldean Protestant" actually rejects the title Chaldean. He has argued that he is actually an Assyrian and that because the Catholic Church added the title Chaldean in the 16th century to our church, then the title must be false. As a person who truly understands the Catholic faith I am offended at his claims against it. And I am even more offended that the Chaldean News did not have the decency to at least give the other side a chance to defend itself against the attacking claims made by this "Protestant Chaldean." Good journalism shows both sides of a story. This article, in my opinion, does not portray good journalism. Worst of all, it is the Chaldean Catholic Church that is one of the only things that our community has to hold us together. It is the place where the most Chaldeans get together and most often. It is the only place that still consistently uses the Chaldean language and the only place you can go to learn it. The Chaldean rite of the Catholic Church has elements in it that are not in any other in the world. It is one of the most ancient rites of the Catholic Church and is the only one to mainly use the language spoken by Jesus Christ himself. To overlook this importance and richness of our Church is unfortunately irresponsible. ~ Kristina Younan Rochester Hills --------------------- - BACK TO INDEX - REPLY - QUOTE - EDIT - DELETE -

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