Message from Apostolic Administrator Bishop Saad Sirop Hanna

I come among you with respect and with a father’s heart, in the service that the Church entrusts to me as Apostolic Administrator. I know that many carry in their hearts tiredness, confusion, and questions. In this time, I want to tell you first of all one thing: you are not alone. The Lord does not abandon His Church. As with the disciples in the storm, Christ says again to us: “Why are you afraid?” and He invites us to trust in His presence in the boat. This crisis wounds us, but it can also become a time of purification. The Gospel teaches us that the light does not come to condemn, but to save what is hidden can come to the surface not to destroy, but to be healed. Therefore, we are not called to defend interests or images, but to safeguard the Gospel, the dignity of persons, and the holiness of our vocation. 

In this time, the first response is not noise, but conversion: of the heart, of the tongue, of our style, of the way we exercise authority and live relationships. The Lord tells us: “Remain in me”; and only by remaining in Him does our life become fruitful again.

I ask you to walk on two wings that cannot be separated: truth and charity. Jesus reminds us: “The truth will set you free”; and Christian truth is not harshness; it is light that heals. And charity is not complicity: it is the strength of the Good Shepherd who protects the flock, and especially the little ones. If there are wounded persons, especially if there are victims, our priority is to listen, to accompany, to protect, and to follow with seriousness the procedures that are required. In the Gospel Jesus is very clear: “Whoever welcomes one of these little ones… welcomes me”; and He warns us not to scandalize the little ones. The safeguarding of the vulnerable is not a detail: it is an evangelical responsibility.

At the same time, let us safeguard communion. Jesus prays to the Father: “That they may be one.” Let us not turn the house of God into a battlefield: no “parties,” no factions, no murmuring that poisons. 

Communion does not mean denying facts or silencing questions; it means seeking the truth in an evangelical way, without destroying, without humiliating, without dividing. Let us remember the Lord’s word: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

In these months our people are looking above all at our style. The Gospel asks us to be “salt” and “light”: not with strong words, but with a life that makes the proclamation credible. 

I ask you for a clear style: faithful prayer, sobriety in words and on social media, mutual respect, responsibility in speaking and in deciding, closeness to the poor, the sick, and families. Jesus tells us: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples: if you have love for one another.” Let us not allow the crisis to close us in defensiveness or make us forget the mission.

As Apostolic Administrator I commit myself to govern with justice, prudence, and sober transparency, listening to you and to your communities. In the Gospel, authority is service: “Whoever wants to be first must be the servant of all.” We will put things in order where it is necessary, we will protect what is fragile, and we will make the necessary decisions without fear and without harshness. I do not promise shortcuts, but I promise a serious and honest path. Jesus teaches us to build on rock: with small but true steps, because only in this way does the house withstand the winds when they blow.

I ask you for three simple and strong commitments. Guard the tongue: remembering that “for every idle word we will give an account,” and that murmuring divides what Christ wants to unite. Guard the little ones: because the face of the Lord comes to meet us especially in the vulnerable, and because no fear can be greater than the duty to protect. Guard prayer: every day for the healing of the diocese, for truth and for peace; because without Him we can do nothing.

The Church is not ours: it belongs to Christ. And Christ can transform even wounds into doors of grace. Just as after Easter He showed His wounds not as defeat but as a sign of love, so the Lord can bring forth new life even from this time.

I entrust each one of you to the Heart of Christ and to the intercession of the Virgin Mary. May the Holy Spirit make us of one heart and one soul, so that our people may regain trust in the Church not because of words, but because they will see in us the good face of the Shepherd.

+Saad Sirop Hanna 

Apostolic Administrator

Chaldean Diocese of Saint Peter – San Diego