Jun 17, 2014
by MOSAIC Editorial Team
Graduate of Sacred Heart receives episcopal ordination June 14
Bishop (or Mar in Chaldean) Kalabat is a proud member of the Sacred Heart Class of 1995 and a holder of a Master of Theology degree from the seminary. He will become the twenty-seventh graduate of Sacred Heart to be ordained a bishop.
Please offer up a prayer, as well, for Sacred Heart's great friend, the renowned Bishop Ibrahim Namo Ibrahim. The retiring bishop of the Chaldean eparchy and its founding bishop (1982) has entrusted to Sacred Heart the education and formation of his seminarians for many years. This past academic year, ten Chaldean seminarians were enrolled at the seminary. For this solemn responsibility, and for the bishop's friendship, we are honored.
The episcopal ordination ceremony of Bishop Kalabat was held at Mother of God Chaldean Catholic Church in Southfield. He was consecrated by Bishop Louis Raphael I. Sako, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church; Bishop Ibrahim, now Bishop Emeritus of the St. Thomas diocese; and Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit. Also in attendance representing Detroit were Cardinal Adam Maida and Cardinal Edmund Szoka, along with many Chaldean bishops from throughout the world.
Pope Francis made the appointment of the new bishop on May 3, announced by the Vatican's nuncio, or representative, to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Vigano. The ordination ceremony began with Archbishop Vigano reading the papal bull announcing the appointment of Bishop Kalabat to his diocese. The ceremony ended dramatically with Bishop Ibrahim rising from the episcopal seat for the last time and passing his bishop's staff to his successor.
Bishop Kalabat was born in Kuwait but raised in San Diego, California. After graduating from Sacred Heart, Bishop Kalabat served as associate pastor of Mother of God Parish and later pastor of St. Thomas Parish in West Bloomfield, Michigan. He is also director of vocations for the eparchy and director of its Center for Re-Evangelization.
Bishop Kalabat will head one of the two Chaldean eparchies in the United States, the other being St. Peter the Apostle of the Chaldeans in San Diego. The St. Thomas Eparchy has an estimated population of 105,000 Catholics with seven of its nine parishes located in Michigan. The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern-rite church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. The Church's liturgy is in the ancient Syriac language, a dialect of the Aramaic language spoken by Jesus.
Chaldeans are native to northern Iraq and believed to be descendant from the ancient Assyrians. There are remnant populations in parts of Turkey, Syria, and Iran. Many Chaldean Catholics migrated to the United States and particularly southeastern Michigan because of the wars and religious persecutions in Iraq during the past three decades. Metro Detroit has the highest concentration of Chaldeans in the United States.
MOSAIC Editorial Team