In historic first, Pope Francis begins Iraq visit from Friday
Despite rise in Covid cases and violence, pontiff is fulfilling his predecessor’s dream
Pope Francis is to arrive on Friday for the first-ever papal visit to conflict-torn Iraq, aiming to encourage the dwindling Christian community to remain in their ancient homeland, and broaden his outreach to Islam.
Among the most extraordinary moments of the trip will be his one-on-one meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, the highly reclusive cleric, who is a top religious authority for many of the world’s Shiites.
Despite a second deadly wave of coronavirus infections, renewed violence and notoriously poor public services, Francis is fulfilling the dream of a predecessor, late pope John Paul II, by visiting Iraq.
Plans to voice solidarity
The 84-year-old pontiff, who will be on his first foreign trip since the start of the pandemic, plans to voice solidarity with them and the rest of Iraq’s 40 million people during a packed three-day visit.
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 highprofile visitor.
“The pope’s message is that the Church stands beside those who suffer,” said Najeeb Michaeel, Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of the northen city of Mosul.
Rockets have hit Iraqi cities and Covid-19 has flared,yet, barring last-minute changes, Pope Francis will embark on a whirlwind four-day trip starting on Friday to show solidarity with the country’s devastated Christian community.
Keen to get on the road again after the pandemic put paid to several planned trips, he convinced some perplexed Vatican aides that it is worth the risk and that, in any case, his mind was made up, three Vatican sources said.
“He is itching to get back out on the road after such a long period,” said one Vatican official. “Despite some misgivings, the general mood in here is that all systems are go.” The March 5-8 trip will be Francis’ first outside Italy since November 2019, when he visited Thailand and Japan. Four trips planned for 2020 were cancelled because of Covid-19.
‘Pope knows where he is going’
“He really feels that need to reach out to people on their home ground,” said the official, a Vatican prelate who is familiar with Iraq and who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Vatican officials and local Church leaders say they are satisfied that Iraqi forces will be able to provide adequate security for the pope and his entourage. “The pope knows where he is going. He is deliberately coming to an area marked by war and violence to bring a message of peace,” Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil told reporters on a recent conference call. “The authorities are taking the pope’s security very seriously, with 10,000 security personnel deployed for the purpose,” he said.
A twin suicide attack in Baghdad killed at least 32 people in January.
Officials banned most travel within provinces after more than 4,000 new cases were detected on Thursday, for a total of more than 600,000 cases so far.
Two gatherings at churches in Baghdad will be limited to about 100 people each, with social distancing and masks required.
Up to 10,000 people will have numbered seats for a papal Mass in a stadium in Arbil that has a capacity of 30,000, and contact tracing will be possible if there is an outbreak, Warda said.
Visit is dangerous, Benedict says
Benedict XVI, who resigned as pontiff eight years ago, warned in an interview published yesterday that Pope Francis trip was “dangerous”.
“I think it’s a very important trip,” the 93-year-old pope emeritus, who lives in a monastery in the Vatican City, told the Corriere della Sera daily. “Unfortunately, it comes at a very difficult time, which also makes it a dangerous trip: for reasons of security and for coronavirus.
“And then there’s the unstable situation in Iraq. I will accompany Francis with my prayers.”