“We are Chaldean, our nation is Chaldean and our language is Chaldean! Either you are a Chaldean, or just go to your Nation…”. These are the loving words announced by cardinal and pateriarch Sako of the Chaldean-Catholic Church to an Assyrianist community in Paris belonging to the Chaldean-Catholic rite.
His divisive speech has been massively shared on social media and led to several reactions from political organisations representing the Assyrian Nation such as AACB, which is the Assyrian-Chaldean organisation based in Belgium. The latter wrote a public letter to the Roman Catholic bishops of Western Europe as his speech contained an element of discrimination against ethnic Assyrians, who are clearly not welcome in his church. 1 Another organisation, the ‘Conseil Coordination des Assyro-Chaldeans de France‘ (Coordination Council of Assyrian-Chaldean Communities in France) had a letter to write against the AACB’s position after this conflict.2 In summary, the CCACF’s argument is that Sako is an authorised and eminent figure to be respected and that such a letter is unjustified.
It seems that the millet ideology is still dominating in diaspora years after the Ottoman indoctrination. In the video clip we discussed, we find a fine example of church nationalism by the Chaldean Catholic pateriarch. This is a form of sectarianism to separate one of the Assyrian churches from all others and build a Nation on the basis of church identity. This goes against what we know as Assyrianism. The latter is a movement created to unite all those that call themselves Suraye/Suryoye regardless of their church, in order to liberate their home country which is Assyria.
The difference in the two movements can be noticed in the fruits. Chaldean sectarianism leads to division within the Assyrian Nation and has no long-term goals such as independence. The interest of the people is not put first. Compared to Assyrianism, we see that its goal is the unification of the Assyrian Nation and ensure the survival of the sons of this Nation and it’s culture by liberating Assyria. The independence of the Assyrian Nation serves primarily as a guarantee for the future of the Assyrian people. Figures who promote sectarianism and sow division within the Assyrian nation are clearly not friends of the Assyrians. These people serve other peoples and nations’ interests. Respect to the Assyrian organisation in Belgium, the AACB for speaking up when the rest were silent.
Assyrian Metropolis 
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