Vatican City, Oct 26, 2014 / 04:41 am (CNA).- Chaldean patriarch Louis Sako I has suspended a group of monks and priests who fled Iraq without consulting their superiors, saying a priest’s primary duty is to serve his flock wherever he is asked.

“Before his ordination, the ‘Priest’ announces the offering of his whole life to God and the Church. It is an offering grounded in the obedience to his superiors without any conservation,” Patriarch Sako said in his Oct. 22 statement.