Deacon in Iran detained over illegal sale of Assyrian church assets in Urmia
The patriarchate of the Chaldean Catholic Church revealed in a letter made public on 22 February that church property in the diocese of Urmia in western Iran had been sold illegally by a deacon serving as the diocesan procurator.
The Chaldean Catholic Church, one of six Assyrian church denominations, announced in a letter published on its official website on 22 February that church property in the diocese of Urmia had been sold illegally. The illegal sale is said to have been carried out by a deacon who was serving as the diocesan procurator.
"During the period following the resignation of His Excellency Bishop Thomas Meram from the leadership of the Diocese of Urmia, and before the installation of His Excellency Bishop Imad Khoshaba, Archbishop of Tehran and Patriarchal Administrator of Urmia, a deacon who was serving as the diocesan procurator exploited this vacancy to sell certain properties belonging to the Church", the statement reads.
The letter does not reveal which church property or properties were sold or the identity of the suspect.
The patriarchate writes that the local Iranian authorities arrested the deacon and placed him in prison, clarifying further that he was later released on bail. "Investigations are currently ongoing under the supervision of Bishop Imad Khoshaba, along with lawyers and the local government, by an official written mandate from His Beatitude Patriarch Sako, in order to uncover the truth and recover the Church’s properties", the message concluded.
The Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Urmiā is a Metropolitan archeparchy with episcopal see in Urmia, West Azerbaijan Province, north-west Iran. Its cathedral archiepiscopal see is the Cathedral of St. Mary the Mother of God, in the city of Urmia.
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