The opportunity for freedom and security,
however, did not overshadow the Chaldean
focus on community and family.
“The early Chaldeans who came to the
United States thrived,” Bishop Francis explains, “but they did not forget their families
back home in Iraq. The Chaldeans have always worked to provide for their family members still living in Iraq.”
The vital family connection for Chaldeans
goes beyond the United States. Chaldeans
are connected to each other and to the
Church through immediate and extended
families that span the entire globe.
“We all seem to be one person away from
knowing each other. You will always find
someone who will know someone who will
know me,” Bishop Francis explains. “It’s because Chaldeans never had a country of our
own. We are a minority in Iraq and we are
a minority here. We have been hot-wired to
stay close and remain close. We create community wherever we go.”
The Family Grows
The patriarchal seat of the worldwide
Chaldean Catholic Church is in Baghdad,
Iraq. The seat created the Eparchy of St.
Thomas the Apostle in 1982 and appointed
Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim to lead the Chaldeans in the United States. Bishop Kalabat
assumed leadership of the eparchy from
Bishop Emeritus Ibrahim in June 2014.
Another American eparchy was created in
2002, St. Peter the Apostle, for Chaldean
Catholics living in the western states.
In 1989, the Chaldean extended family
grew to include Sacred Heart Major Seminary. Bishop Ibrahim could have sent his
men to the seminary in Iraq, but he wanted
them to be close to their parishes and communities. Since the largest number of Chaldeans in the U.S. lives in metro Detroit,
Sacred Heart was the closest choice.
Location was important, but Bishop
Ibrahim also wanted theological study and
spiritual formation of high quality, and
proper liturgical training. After thoroughly
researching the seminary, he became impressed with Sacred Heart’s commitment
to all three. The willingness of Sacred Heart
to expand its focus to include Eastern Rite
traditions made the seminary the right
choice for the eparchy.
“I asked the Archdiocese of Detroit if we
could enroll students there. They were very
welcoming,” Bishop Ibrahim says. “I sent
the first seminarian in 1989. I was able to
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see in the life of this seminarian that Sacred
Heart was a good place for priests. Now we
have twelve seminarians. I ordained fourteen
priests during my tenure.”
Bishop Kalabat was the second Chaldean
seminarian to attend Sacred Heart. “When
I started, I was the only one,” he says. “We
were more trailblazers of sorts. The seminarians are doing things now that I wish I had
the opportunity to experience.”
Adapting to Special Requirements
There are many benefits to studying
here at Sacred Heart,” says Chaldean seminarian Rodney Abasso, who began his
first year of graduate theology in September. “First, it’s close to home and to all of
the Chaldean parishes here in Michigan.
Also, there are many brilliant professors
here who want to help us to succeed in
the mission that God has for us.”
Chaldean seminarians study alongside
Sacred Heart Major Seminary | Mosaic | Fall 2015
their Latin Rite brothers, but Sacred Heart
offers education and training in areas specific to the requirements of the eparchy. “It’s
important that we listen to what the bishop
needs,” says Monsignor Lajiness. “We have
all these different doorways to help people
with their discipleship.”
Fr. Daniel Jones is director of graduate
seminarians at Sacred Heart. Instead of
the requirement of Latin studies, he explains, Chaldean seminarians engage in
Aramaic grammar, Chaldean spirituality,
and Chaldean Rite liturgical training. The
Registrar’s Office provides a time for the
Chaldean men to take these classes. Instructors are usually priests from the Eparchy of St. Thomas, some of whom studied
at Sacred Heart.
Upon entering the Theologate, the Chaldean men are assigned to a local Chaldean
parish on weekends to immerse themselves
in the community and liturgy, Father Jones