The visit of the Chaldean Patriarch Yusuf VII Ghanima to London/1950
Introduction by Father Putros Haddad
Translated by Robert Ewan/London
In autumn 1950 Patriarch Yusuf VII Ghanima travelled to Rome in response to the invitation of Pope Pius XII to attend the holly ceremonies and most importantly to attend the declaration of the doctrine of the Ascention of the Virgin. He was accompanied by the divine Bishops including his
Secretary Bishop Estephan Kajoo.After the ceremonies were completed in the eternal city the Patriarch headed to London via Paris.
The purpose of the visit was, I believe, to establish contact with the centres of influence towards the international affairs, especially, Iraq. He believed (like most Iraqis) that the solutions to most of the problems lie in London.
There were several complicated and provocative issues in Iraq such as the sectarian courts, mortmain matters, and Personal Statute law for minorities
These are some notes from the diaries of Bishop Estephan Kajoo on the visit.
Wednesday 6/12/1950
At 12:30 pm we boarded the train heading north towards Calais we arrived at about 3:30 pm and we boarded the ferry for Dover. After about an hour and twenty minutes we arrived at Dover and then we took the train for London which arrived about 6:30 pm in London.
We were guest in the abbey belonging to the Dominican Fathers.
Thursday 7/12/1950
Today we telephoned the Papal Legation, Diocese of Westminister, Universal newspaper and the Iraqi Embassy. The Papal Legations gave us an appointment for Saturday, The Diocese on Tuesday
And the embassy for tomorrow between 10-11 am.
We did not have time to explore the city and we had no idea what was it like. The young Father Simon was very meek and welcoming to us and all the monks were affectionately smiling to us.
Friday 8/12/1950
How we longed for our homes today. It was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. A feast that we celebrate with full splendour in Iraq but it seems forgotten here.
This morning we visited the Iraqi Embassy and met his royal Hines Prince Zaid.He welcomed us open heartedly and we sat for half an hour. We also visited Adeeb Beck, Fouad Beck and Suleiman Beck
With them we met Mr. Sabeeh Mumtaz representative of the Iraqi government for the negotiations
With the British Government about the Iraqi oil allocation.
This evening we met with the publisher of the Universe newspaper to get some information about our Catholic community. We were also visited by Mr. Furlone who looks after the Middle East affairs in the Foreign office. He was full of respect for us.
Saturday 9/12/1950
In the morning we visited the British Museum and especially the Assyrian section we also visited it’s library and found Chaldean manuscripts numbering 1300.We could not view all the manuscripts as we did not have enough time but we obtained an index of the manuscripts for future reference.
Later today we visited the auxiliary Bishop for the Cardinal (as the Cardinal was away recouping after a long illness).The Bishop welcomed us very warmly and he took us to his church, it was beautifully designed similar to our churches it was over one hundred years old. It was called the Spanish temple as it adjoined to the Spanish embassy were some of the English Catholics prayed during the protestant persecution of the Catholics.
We observed in London the situation of the Catholics, were we noticed and felt a sense of resentment and hatred towards them which was not the case in Paris and Rome.
Sunday 10/12/1950
Today we did not go out much we met the children of Yusuf yonan, Edward Atallah and Dawood Emile Maseeh.
At night we went to a cinema to see a religious movie. It was about the pilgrimage of the English Catholics after the second world war to fourteen monasteries in their country and they were carrying a cross weighing thirty kilograms. This was all done on foot and then they crossed the channel to France and visited their monasteries.
Monday 11/12/1950
Today we have a luncheon invite by his royal Hines Prince Zaid.Amongest his invitees were Mr. Ezz Al Dean Mullah Afandi, Mr. Mohamed Al-Khitheary, Sabeeh Mumtaz, Adeeb Fouad Beck and Farouq Al Damlugie. His Hines was excellent at the art of conversation and entertainment. H e had a great sense of humour with a constant flow of jokes. He paid a lot of attention to the Patriarch and we left very happy and content.
In the afternoon we visited Westminster Cathedral belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury and we admired its gothic splendour and beauty.
Tuesday 12/12/1950
We visited the Apostolic Delegate Mr. Kraft in his office. We talked about the Catholic situation in Iraq, and asked for the help of English Catholics in religious matters and he promised he would do all he can to help us.
We went to the American Express travel company and booked our tickets from Marseille to Cairo on the Ship “the providence” to Cairo.
At 4:50 pm we had an appointment with Mr. Ernest Davies (secretary to the foreign minister).We discussed our situation in Iraq and especially the Personal Statute law and it’s contradiction with our religious principles. Afterwards we visited the wax museum Madame Tussauds.
Wednesday 13/12/1950
We wok up today and the snow was falling. At 12:00pm we had an appointment in the foreign office to meet Mr. Yorker(responsible for the Middle Eastern affairs).He was a cordial man again we discussed the Personal Statute Law in Islamic countries.Secterian courts and so forth in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. We also paid for our tickets for Cairo totalling 170 Dinnars.The route was through London-Dover-Calais-Paris-Marseille-Alexandria-Cairo.
Thursday 14/12/1950
We bid Farwell to the Dominican fathers and they were very sad to see us go specially Father Simon. He was very saddened and emotional by our departure and he was accompanied by a representative from the foreign office. We arrived in Dover at 1:35 pm and we embarked on our ferry (Le Fleche) and we then took the Paris train arriving in Paris at 5:30 pm.We stayed in the Monastery belonging to the Dominican fathers in St. Honorie and again we were warmly welcomed.
End of diaries