The new Church in Södertälje, Sweden, dedicated to the Virgin Mary will be consecrated on 8 December. The Church will serve the Chaldean community that today has about 17,000 members in the Nordic country, many of whom in Södertälje, who fled war in Iraq and Syria. The Chaldean Catholics in Södertälje “are very active in their community, but did not have enough space for all their activities”, a statement from the Diocese of Stockholm reads. For this reason, the diocese had launched a fundraising campaign in 2015 for the construction of a church and a centre that would accommodate them. The first stone of the new temple was laid on 17 December 2016.  Now this building “becomes a meeting point for the safety and communion of these people who have fled war and persecution”, the statement explains. “The cultural centre also becomes a path of integration in which newcomers can get to know the Swedish culture and language”. The celebration on 8 December will be presided over by the Cardinal of Stockholm Anders Arborelius. Many guests will be attending, including Card. Rainer Maria Woelki (Cologne); the Catholic Patriarch Mar Louis Raphael Sako; the Iraqi ambassador to Sweden; and representatives of other communities. The Catholic Church in Sweden currently has about 116,000 registered members, but according to the Diocese “there are approximately 150,000 Catholic believers of different nationalities and languages in the country”. Parishes are 44 throughout the country.