On Friday, February 1, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI ratified the election of Louis Raphaël I Sako as the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon and the Head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, successor of Cardinal Mar Emmanuel III Delly who became the first Iraqi Cardinal in 2007.

Sākū had been Chaldean Catholic Archeparch of Kirkuk since [September 27] 2003. In a statement he said: “I will do everything I can to serve the People of Iraq, and I hope that peace and national security will prevail” (Author not mentioned, al-Tahrīr, Feb. 2, p. 40). Read original text in Arabic.