Tuesday, 12 May 2026

 Kathleen MATTHEWS-WARD (Broadmeadows) (10:12): I wish to congratulate His Beatitude Mar Polis III Nona on being elected as patriarch of the worldwide Chaldean Catholic Church. Mar Polis is greatly respected for his work here and his courage and leadership through the worst times of persecution in Iraq. He is so loved by his community, exemplified by the words of the youth:

[QUOTE AWAITING VERIFICATION]

We thank God and are forever grateful to have called you, our people in our churches, Archbishop, and now we are honoured to call you our Patriarch, leader of the Chaldean Church. May God always be by your side in this new journey and bless you with every grace as you lead his people.

It has been an honour to attend the celebrations, both last night with Minister Erdogan and the member for Greenvale and on Saturday night at Our Lady Guardian of Plants church in Campbellfield. We love being with the Chaldean community – such warmth, generosity, resilience and a deep commitment to faith, family and community. We also really enjoyed being at the St George’s feast day festival and catching up with community regularly at the wonderful Upfield footy club. Basima raba to His Beatitude. We wish you all the best. It is wonderful to have both an Australian and a wise man in this role during these tumultuous times.