First-ever papal visit to Iraq will deliver a message of reconciliation
PONTIFF ON HISTORIC VISIT URGES AUTHORITIES TO ENSURE MINORITIES IN THE COUNTRY ARE NOT DISCRIMINATED AGAINST
Pope Francis urged Iraqis yesterday to treat their Christian brothers as a precious resource to protect, not an “obstacle” to eliminate as he opened the first-ever papal visit to Iraq with a plea for tolerance and fraternity among Christians and Muslims.
Francis brushed aside the coronavirus pandemic and security concerns to resume his globetrotting papacy after a yearlong hiatus spent under Covid-19 lockdown in Vatican City. His primary aim over the weekend is to encourage Iraq’s dwindling number of Christians, who were violently persecuted by Daesh and still face discrimination by the Shiite majority, to stay and help rebuild the country devastated by wars and strife.
Bulletproof car
The 84-year-old pope, who relishes plunging into crowds and likes to travel in an opensided popemobile, was transported around Baghdad in what Iraqi security officials said was an armoured black BMWi750, flanked by rows of police on siren-blaring motorcycles. It was believed to be the first time Francis had used a bulletproof car. Iraqis seemed keen to welcome Francis and the global attention his visit was bringing, with some lining the road to cheer his motorcade and banners and posters hanging high in central Baghdad depicting Francis with the slogan “We are all Brothers.”
‘Emblematic journey’
At Baghdad international airport, Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi greeted Francis as he descended from the Alitalia charter that landed shortly before 2pm. “This is an emblematic journey,” Francis told reporters aboard the papal plane. “It is also a duty to a land tormented by many years.”
Francis’ first main event was a courtesy visit with President Barham Salih at the Baghdad palace inside the heavily fortified Green Zone. Afterward, Francis told Salih and other Iraqi authorities that Christians and other minorities shouldn’t be considered a second-class citizen in Iraq but deserve to have the same rights and protections as the Shiite Muslim majority.
“The religious, cultural and ethnic diversity that has been a hallmark of Iraqi society for millennia is a precious resource on which to draw, not an obstacle to eliminate,” he said. “Iraq today is called to show everyone, especially in the Middle East, that diversity, instead of giving rise to conflict, should lead to harmonious cooperation in the life of society.” Salih echoed his call and praised Francis for coming to make it in person in Iraq despite the pandemic and security concerns.
Dwindling community
Christians once constituted a sizeable minority in Iraq, estimated at around 1.4 million. But their numbers began to fall after the 2003 US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussain opened a wave of instability in which militants repeatedly targeted Christians. They received a further blow when Daesh militants in 2014 swept through northern Iraq, including traditionally Christian towns across the Nineveh plains, some of which date from the time of Christ.
Appeal for greater rights
Francis called for Iraqi authorities to grant all religious communities “recognition, respect, rights and protection,” including the right to participate in public life “as citizens with full rights.”
For the pope, who has often travelled to places where Christians are a persecuted minority, Iraq’s beleaguered Christians are the epitome of the “martyred church” that he has admired ever since he was a young Jesuit seeking to be a missionary in Asia. In Iraq, Francis seeks to not only honour its martyrs but deliver a message of reconciliation and fraternity.
Mosul stopover
Later Francis prayed at the Baghdad church that was the site of one of the worst massacres of Christians, the 2010 attack by militants that left 58 people dead. Tomorrow he will honour the dead in a Mosul square surrounded by shells of destroyed churches and meet with the small Christian community that returned to Qaraqosh, where he will bless their church that was used as a firing range by Daesh.
The religious, cultural and ethnic diversity that has been a hallmark of Iraqi society for millennia is a precious resource on which to draw, not an obstacle to eliminate. Iraq today is called to show everyone that diversity, instead of giving rise to conflict, should lead to harmonious cooperation in the life of society.”
Pope Francis | Head of the Catholic Church