CHALDO-ASSYRIAN WATCH: An expatriate Assyrian Chaldean Catholic priest is interviewed in an L.A. Times article on southern Californian expatriate Iraqis who are voting in the current election. Oddly, the article seems no longer to be on the Times website, but the KTLA website still has it up. Here's the relevant passage:

Father Noel Gorgis, 38, is pastor of St. Paul Assyrian Chaldean Catholic Church in North Hollywood, an ivy-covered brick parish featuring inscriptions in Aramaic, the ancient language of Christ. A slim man with intense brown eyes, Gorgis was born in the northern Iraqi region of Zaho, the son of a farmer and brother to 10 siblings.

When Hussein began destroying neighborhoods in Zaho, the family left for another Christian village nearby. There, at age 12, Gorgis met the priest who would draw him into religious life. The next year, he began studying to be a monk.

But Gorgis was not able to practice his dream vocation. In 1987, he was drafted into the Iraqi army. As combat duty against Iran loomed, he deserted a year later and then was ordained. He was briefly jailed, rejoined the army, but deserted again for good in 1991. He fled on foot to Turkey.

In Hussein's Iraq, Gorgis said, he was unable to practice his faith, speak his language or honor his culture. The Baath Party tried to Arabize the nation, he said, a campaign that he fiercely resisted.

"You can't make me Arab. I may not have rights as a Chaldean in Iraq, but this is my identity," he said.

In December 1992, the United States admitted him as a refugee. He went to San Diego, where the Chaldean church took him under its wing. The church sent him to serve in Chicago for two years, then Arizona for seven years, and, in 2002, to Los Angeles. Today, Gorgis tends a congregation of 400 families.

He revels in the cultural diversity of Los Angeles. Thai food and sushi are among his favorite foods. Gorgis, who is a celibate monk, frets a bit that U.S. life seems to weaken family ties. But he pours out gratitude to his new country.

"To me, it was like I was a newborn," he said. "I couldn't live in my own country to be a Chaldean and speak my own language. For 20 years, I didn't find myself a free man to serve the church and the people of God. Thanks to this country, now I could see my future was more bright."

He plans to vote for the People's Unity Party because he supports one of its leaders, a Chaldean expert in international law, and the party platform calling for a secular constitution.

Asked if he supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq, he quickly corrected the questioner.

"I don't see it as an invasion; I look at it as liberation," he said.