Last week, the synod of the Chaldean Church passed a resolution on the subject of sexualised violence against children and the blessing of same-sex partnerships, the Patriarchate announced on Monday.
"The Chaldean Church in Iraq and throughout the world does not consider same-sex partnerships to be marriage, as it considers marriage between a man and a woman to be the legally valid marriage for establishing a family. It refuses to bless same-sex partnerships in order to preserve the sanctity of marriage, which is one of the seven sacraments," the resolution reads.
The synod also emphasised the importance of protecting children from sexualised violence and sensitising priests to the issue.
According to the resolution, priests must complete further training in the area of child protection and provide evidence of their participation in the form of certificates.
Resistance in Catholic and non-Catholic Eastern churches
The Chaldean Catholic Church is in full communion with the Pope and is based in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Its head is the Patriarch of Babylon, currently Cardinal Louis Raphaël I. Sako, who leads the church together with its synod.
The traditional habitat of the 600,000 Chaldeans is in Iraq.
Due to persecution and expulsion in Iraq the diaspora has grown considerably in recent years.
Most recently there have been conflicts between the patriarchate and the Iraqi government government over the recognition of the patriarch, which is why Patriarch Sako was in exile for eight months and only only returned to Baghdad in April.
The Declaration "Fiducia supplicans" by the Vatican on the blessing of same-sex couples, among others, has met with great resistance in the Eastern churches.
At the end of February, the Moscow Patriarchate described the document as a "very serious departure from Christian moral norms". In January, the Ukrainian Catholic Grand Archbishop Svyatoslav Shevchuk distanced himself from the document.
The declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith only applies to the Latin Church and does not concern the Eastern Catholic Churches.
With reference to the declaration, the Coptic Orthodox Church has called for dialogue dialogue with the Catholic Church in March.
Subsequently Prefect of Faith Víctor Manuel Fernández visited the Coptic Pope at the end of May at the end of May to emphasise a fundamental agreement in the assessment of homosexuality.