Iraq's Chaldean church elect new patriarch, Sako, to replace retired Cardinal Delly
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Iraq's Chaldean Catholic Church has elected a new patriarch, Monsignor Louis Sako, to replace the retired Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly.
The Vatican on Friday said Pope Benedict XVI had accepted the appointment made by a meeting of bishops of the Eastern rite church.
The 64-year-old Sako has been archbishop of Kirkuk since 2003. Delly, 85, became Iraq's first cardinal when he was elevated by Benedict in 2007.
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In the aftermath of the Iraq war, Delly had urged the country's remaining 1.5 million Christians to stay in the country amid a surge in attacks by Islamic militants.