Detroit — The growing Chaldean community in the metro area is resulting in the growth of the Chaldean Catholic diocese for the area.

Bishop Ibrahim N. Ibrahim of the Southfield-based Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle dedicated Holy Martyrs (Chaldean) Church in Sterling Heights last Friday, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Chaldean) Mission has been meeting since March in Warren.

“Our population is growing here in the area, and they need places to worship and pray,” Bishop Ibrahim said.

He estimated about 30,000 Chaldeans (as Assyrian Catholics from Iraq are called) have moved to the Detroit area in just the past three years, with 50,000 having come since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2004.

That brings metro Detroit’s Chaldean population to about 150,000, the bishop said.

The new Holy Martyrs (Chaldean) Parish, at 43700 Merrill Road in Sterling Heights, is expected to draw its parishioners mainly from people currently attending St. Joseph (Chaldean) Parish in Troy or St. George (Chaldean) Parish in Shelby Township, Bishop Ibrahim continued.

About 1,500 people attended the dedication ceremony, and Fr. Manuel Boji, pastor of the new parish, estimated it would soon have a membership of about 2,000 families.

“For us Chaldeans, this is something extra special,” said Fr. Boji, who is vicar general of the Chaldean diocese and former rector of Our Lady of Chaldeans Cathedral in Southfield.

“I am very thankful to his exellency, Bishop Ibrahim, for entrusting to me all these souls, and I look forward to helping people know Jesus in his reality,” he continued.

Fr. Boji said he was thankful to the Holy Martyrs who died for the faith, and for the many volunteers who worked over the past two months to remodel the former Covenant Baptist Church building to serve Chaldean Catholics.

In northeast Warren, the growing number of Chaldeans prompted the formation of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Chaldean) Mission, which meets for Mass every Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at St. Sylvester Church, 11200 Twelve Mile Road.

Its pastor, Fr. Fadi Habib, estimates 95 percent of the approximately 300 people at a typical Sunday Mass are recent immigrants from Iraq now living in Warren, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Troy or Sterling Heights.

The mission also offers daily Mass on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and there is also Bible study on Thursdays. Religious education and first Communion classes in Arabic and English will begin in September.

“Our goals for this mission are to help the recent immigrants in both the spiritual and social aspects of their lives — help them settled in this great country, accompany them to the official government offices to translate and filling forms from English to Arabic or Chaldean,” Fr. Fadi said. “The immigrants have been through rough times in their journey, from the persecution in our homeland, Iraq, to the refugee camps in Syria, Jordan, Turkey or Lebanon. The U.S is the promised land for them.”

He said the mission was made possible by the support of Bishop Ibrahim, and also the Detroit Archdiocese. He particularly expressed gratitude to Fr. Gary Schulte and the community of St. Sylvester Parish “for their ongoing help, support, and love —they are great to us and they welcomed us with open arms to work as one Catholic Church.”