The Holy Father Leo XIV, on 24 April 2026, granted the Ecclesiastica Communio requested of him, in accordance with Can. 76 § 2 of the CCEO, by His Beatitude Polis III Nona, canonically elected Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans on 12 April 2026 by the Synod of Bishops of his own Church sui iuris, celebrated in Rome. Below is published the text of the Letter – released today, 28 April – that His Holiness Leo XIV addressed to the Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans for the concession of the Ecclesiastica Communio:
To His Beatitude
POLIS III NONA
Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans
I have received the esteemed Letter with which Your Beatitude, canonically elected Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans on 12 April 2026 by the Synod of Bishops of this Church, celebrated in Rome, asked me in accordance with canon 76 § 2 of Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientaliumthe granting of Ecclesiastical Communion.
In this regard, it is with a heart full of joy that I grant you theEcclesiastical Communioas an expression and bond of full communion with the Apostolic See, in the common service to unity in the Church and to the edification of the Body of Christ.
I am pleased to raise fervent prayers for Your Beatitude, as Father and Head of this beloved Church sui iurisexercise with pastoral concern the ministry entrusted to you, guiding the People of God according to the Heart of Christ and confirming them in faith, hope and charity.
May the Holy Spirit support you in carrying out the mission received, so that the Chaldean Church, rich in its ancient apostolic tradition and marked by the luminous testimony of numerous martyrs and confessors, continues to make the announcement of the Gospel fruitful, as it did with an admirable missionary spirit, strengthening ecclesial communion in its own territory and in those of the ever-widening diaspora.
In addressing my paternal greeting to the Bishops who are members of the Synod, to the clergy, to the men and women religious, to the seminarians, to the candidates for consecrated life and to all the lay faithful, I entrust Your Beatitude to the maternal intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, and to the protection of the saints Addai and Mari.
The election of Your Beatitude took place on the day in which the Chaldean liturgy commemorates the meeting of the Risen One with Saint Thomas, from which the living tradition of this Church originates; may the Apostle who recognized in the luminous wounds of Jesus the merciful manifestation of his Lord and God accompany His patriarchal ministry in the sign of faith, which requires so much courage and perseverance from many faithful of the Chaldean communities who face, as true believers, pride of the Church, often quite impervious trials.
To Your Beatitude I heartily impart the Apostolic Blessing, a pledge of consolation in the Lord.
From the Vatican, 24 April 2026
LEO PP. XIV
