Pope John Paul II has created a new eparchy for Chaldean Catholics in the western United States. The Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle will be based in San Diego, headed by Bishop-elect Sarhad Jammo. The jurisdiction was carved from the Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle headquartered in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, which covered the entire United States. The new eparchy comprises 19 states and some 35,000 Catholics.
Bishop-elect Sarhad, 61, was born in Baghdad, Iraq, and ordained in Rome in 1964. He was appointed rector of St. Peter Patriarchal Seminary in Baghdad in 1974. In 1977 he moved to the U.S. and was assigned to Mother of God Chaldean Parish in Southfield; he was named pastor in 1980. His next assignment was as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Troy, Michigan. He is a member of the Eparchial Liturgical Committee and of the Joint Committee of the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East.
The Chaldean eparchies serve Catholics of the Chaldean Church (primarily persons who emigrated from Iraq and Iran to the U.S.), an ancient Eastern Church in full communion with the Church of Rome.