Chaldean patriarch uncertain about Christian representation in Iraqi government
Shafaq News- Kirkuk
The head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq and the world, Patriarch Mar Paul III Nona, said Sunday he has no clear picture of Christian representation in the current Iraqi government, adding that the coming period would bring greater clarity on the matter.
"Until now I do not have a complete idea about this subject, and in the coming period we will get to know it more clearly," Nona told Shafaq News during a visit to liberated areas in northern Iraq, without elaborating further.
Iraq's government formation remains incomplete following parliamentary elections in November 2025. In May 2026, the parliament approved 14 ministers of Ali al-Zaidi’s cabinet, while nine portfolios remain vacant.
On reconstruction, Nona said liberated areas, particularly Mosul and the Nineveh Plains, where Christian communities bore some of the heaviest losses during ISIS's 2014 takeover, have shown notable progress. The focus, he added, extends beyond physical infrastructure to rebuilding communities "on sound foundations based on respect for human dignity, cooperation, and coexistence."
Fewer than 300,000 Christians remain in Iraq today, down from more than 1.5 million in 2003, following decades of conflict and displacement. Nona expressed hope that stability would allow families to return, describing the next phase as one that "should witness a reverse migration and the return of families to their original areas inside Iraq."
