Pope readies historic Iraq visit
Persecution has slashed the country’s Christian community from 1.5 million in 2003 to just 400,000 today
VATICAN (AFP) — Pope Francis is to start the first-ever papal visit to Iraq on Friday, an act of solidarity with an ancient but dwindling Christian community and a symbolic outreach to Muslims.
The trip comes as Iraq, ravaged by decades of conflict, faces a second deadly wave of coronavirus infections and renewed violence.
Persecution has already slashed the country’s Christian community — one of the world’s oldest — from 1.5 million in 2003 to just 400,000 today.
The 84-year-old pontiff plans to voice solidarity with them and the rest of Iraq’s 40 million people during an intense week of visits nationwide.
From central Baghdad to the Shiite shrine city of Najaf, welcome banners featuring his image and Arabic title “Baba al-Vatican” already dot the streets.
From Ur, the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham in the southern desert, to ravaged Christian towns in the north, roads are being paved and churches rehabilitated in remote areas that have never seen such a high-profile visitor.
“The Pope’s message is that the Church stands beside those who suffer,” said Najeeb Michaeel, Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of the northern city of Mosul.
“He will have powerful words for Iraq, where crimes against humanity have been committed.”
Iraq’s Christian community is one of the oldest and most diverse in the world, with Chaldeans and other Catholics making up around half, along with Armenian Orthodox, Protestants and others.
In 2014, Islamic State (IS) group jihadists seized control of Nineveh, rampaging through Christian towns and telling residents: Convert or die.
At the time, Pope Francis endorsed military action against IS and considered visiting northern Iraq in solidarity with Christians there.
That trip never materialized, but Francis has kept a close eye on Iraq, condemning the killing of unarmed protesters during mass anti-government rallies from 2019.
Pope John Paul II had planned to visit Iraq in 2000 but Saddam Hussein abruptly canceled the trip. His successor Benedict XVI never made moves towards Baghdad.
Soon after Francis was elected pope in 2013, he was urged to visit Iraq by Father Louis Sako — later appointed as Cardinal and the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church and now a key organizer of the visit.
In 2019, President Barham Saleh extended an official invitation, hoping to help Iraq “heal” after years of violence.