Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad: ‘The only option we have is dialogue'

By Kielce Gussie – Assisi

More than 388 million Christians face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith around the world, according to the World Watch List 2026. Their report shows one in seven Christians around the world suffer persecution.

In the past month alone, in Nigeria, on October 9, nine Christians were killed in Benue State by extremists who traditionally increase attacks as harvest time nears for Christian farmers. In Jordan, a Greek Orthodox church was attacked on October 23, killing nine people and injuring at least 34 others during a funeral service. Sixty Christians were killed in a series of attacks in Ethiopia’s Oromia region.

In a world where religious minorities face persecution in various countries, the lives of men, women, and children recount stories of faith. These are not legends of thousands of years ago. Rather, they are the reality for many people today.

The example of modern martyrs was the topic of discussion at one of the panels on the last morning of the International Meeting for Peace in Assisi. Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad, Paul III Nona, stressed that in a world where religious beliefs are not always welcomed, martyrs offer a “good way to think about unity.”

A common ground

Being in Assisi, at a meeting dedicated to dialogue, interreligious relations, peace, and unity, the Chaldean Patriarch highlighted how modern-day martyrs can lead to unity. “When they were killed, no one thought, ‘they are from this church or that church.’ So, their blood unites us more than anything else.”

The tradition of martyrs is not exclusive to one single faith. It exists across many world religions: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, and the Eastern and Dharmic Traditions, among others.

Something that unites the different religious views with regard to martyrdom is the belief that these men and women loved and respected life. As the Chaldean Patriarch shared, we are called to continue the journey of life that the martyrs could not. It is “the tradition of life, not death, the culture of life, not the culture of death.”

What we can learn

In a world scarred by violence and war, Patriarch Paul III Nona invited everyone to look to the martyrs for a lesson that is relevant at any moment in time—building a good relationship with others.

“The best way to have a dialogue or to contribute to peace is to have a good relationship with the other, the [one] that is different from us,” he said. That is the first step. Without this, it is difficult to have a conversation.

A world without dialogue means a world where people live as individuals rather than a community. “We are now living in the world, each society in the world has different people from different faiths and religions. So, the only option that we have is dialogue,” the Chaldean Patriarch stressed.

That is one of the characteristics of the Spirit of Assisi. As Pope John Paul II noted in his address to leaders of world religions on October 26, 1986, “we are all convinced that the various religions can and should contribute to peace. It is a part of most religions to teach respect for conscience, love of neighbour, justice, forgiveness, self-control, detachment from creatures, prayer and meditation.”

The Polish pontiff argued that peace is built on justice, truth, freedom and love. Religions therefore, “have the necessary function of helping to dispose human hearts so that true peace can be fostered and preserved.”

His message resounds today, and it will continue to live on as long as people of different faiths and religions commit to seeking dialogue in order to bring about an unarmed and disarming peace in the world.