Chaldean patriarch preaches Mary as bridge between Catholics, Muslims

Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako describes how Mary, the mother of Jesus, has a "unique position" in Christian and Muslim religions

Mary has a "unique position" in Christian and Muslim faith traditions and should be seen as a source of unity between the two religions, said the Chaldean Catholic patriarch. 

"Mary has a unique position -- she brings Christians and Muslims together," Iraqi Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, primate of the Chaldean Church explained to Christian and Muslim scholars, including Shia clerics from Najaf and members of Baghdad's Sunni Judicial Council, during a recent meeting at Baghdad's Latin Cathedral about the role of the Virgin Mary in the two religions, Fides reported. 

Cardinal Sako said that doctrinal differences between Christianity and Islam regarding the figure of Mary can be "objectively assessed and understood" in the context of sincere relationships. "In the Christian experience, the person of Mary is united to the mystery of Christ", the cardinal said and her role is recognized "through her relationship with her son and never apart from him." 

Cardinal Sako is head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, headquartered in Baghdad, capital of Muslim-majority Iraq, since 1950 and has a membership of about half a million, most of whom live in the Middle East -- mainly in Iraq. About 80% of Iraqi Christians belong to this Church. Christianity has been in Iraq from its earliest times, as the Acts of the Apostles testify. Its origins go back to the preaching of St Thomas the Apostle and his disciples Addai and Mari in the first century A.D.

Mary's absolute trust in God

Mary's faith and hope "are based on her absolute trust in God and her total devotion to him," referring to how the Quran speaks of Mary several times and devotes an entire Sura to her. The Holy Book of Islam recognizes the virginity of the Mother of Jesus and her immaculate purity, and all stages of Mary's life are mentioned, such as the Annunciation, the birth of Jesus, the Presentation in the Temple. Also, "Mary occupies a special place in Islamic popular devotion as Muslim women enjoy visiting Marian shrines," Cardinal Sako pointed out. 

Mary is a revered figure in Islam as the mother of Jesus, who Muslims regard to be a righteous man but not divine. For Christians Mary is the "Theotokos," the mother of God, the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate. For Muslims she is the mother of Jesus, the Messiah, "who was no more than God's apostle and his Word, which he cast to Mary: a spirit from him" ("Women" IV:171). 

There are 34 direct and indirect references to Mary in the Quran. Mary is the only woman named in the Quran that explicitly identifies her as the greatest woman to have ever lived. In the Quran, her narrative is related in three Meccan surahs (19, 21, 23) and four Medinan surahs (3, 4, 5, 66). The Quran describes Mary as "a saintly woman ("siddigh"), destined, together with her son Jesus, her son to be "a sign ("ayyah") to the universe" ("The Prophets" XXI:91), to play a unique role in the history of salvation. 

The Quran also describes how Mary's mother, before she gave birth to the daughter she hardly expected, had prayed: "O Lord, I dedicate to your service that which is within my womb, one totally free ("muharraran"); accept it from me" ("The Imrans" III:35). And about Mary, according to the Quran, the angel said, "God has chosen you and made you pure ("tahharaki"), and he has chosen you above the women of the universe" ("The Imrans," III:42). 

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Chaldean patriarch preaches Mary as bridge between Catholics, Muslims  By La Croix International staff | Vatican City | March 6, 2023