Al Kadhimi calls for talks after Pope visit
▶ Pope Francis says he knew risks of travelling during pandemic
Iraq’s Prime Minister yesterday called for a national dialogue to resolve the country’s issues, as Pope Francis ended his historic trip.
The “open and frank” talks will be based on preserving the security of Iraq and supporting the state and the rule of law, Mustafa Al Kadhimi said. He spoke hours after Pope Francis departed from Baghdad Airport. US President Joe Biden congratulated the Iraqi government on the success of the trip.
“To see Pope Francis visit ancient religious sites, including the biblical birthplace of Abraham, spend time with Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani in Najaf, and offer prayers in Mosul – a city that only a few years ago endured the depravity and intolerance of a group like ISIS – is a symbol of hope for the entire world,” he said.
Pope Francis said he considered the risks of travelling to Iraq during the Covid-19 pandemic, but he decided to go through with the visit because he believed God would look after his followers.
The pontiff, who flew back to Rome yesterday, explained why he chose to make the four-day trip.
His visit featured often maskless crowds in packed churches and he said the risks posed by the pandemic weighed heavily on his mind before he travelled to Iraq.
The Pope said the idea of travelling “cooks over time in my conscience” and that Covid-19 was the issue that concerned him most.
“I prayed a lot about this and in the end I took the decision freely,” Pope Francis said.
“It came from inside. I said: ‘He who makes me decide this way will look after the people.’
“I took the decision this way, but after prayer and knowing the risks.”
The historic papal trip to Iraq aimed to bring hope to the country’s Christian minority and boost relations with the Muslim world.
At every turn, Pope Francis urged Iraqis to embrace diversity – from Najaf in the south, where he spoke to Shiite leader Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, to Nineveh to the north, where he met Christian victims of ISIS and heard their stories of survival.
He also led an interfaith ceremony on the plain of Ur, near the archeological ruins of the House of Abraham, and in Erbil he met Abdullah Kurdi, the father of a Syrian toddler who drowned in 2015 while trying to cross the Mediterranean to escape the civil war.
Pope Francis said he prayed about the decision to travel to Iraq and hoped he would soon be able to resume public appearances at the Vatican.
Those events have been suspended for months because of the pandemic.
The pontiff also suggested he could make a trip to Lebanon.
He said Covid-19 restrictions left him feeling “a bit imprisoned” but that the tour of Iraq made him feel alive again “because it’s touching the Church, the holy people of God”.
He met Mr Al Sistani at his home and the cleric said the two men discussed the “great challenges that humanity faces in this era and the role of faith in God and his messages and commitment to high moral values in overcoming them”.
The Vatican said it hoped the message of unity would help preserve the place of the Christian population among
Iraq’s various faiths and ethnic groups. Pope Francis said he was honoured to be received by Mr Al Sistani and called him “a great man, a wise man, a man of God”.
“He was very respectful,” Pope Francis said.
Mr Al Sistani, 90, stood up to greet him.
“He never stands up for the greeting. He stood up to greet me – twice. This meeting was good for my soul. He is a luminary,” Pope Francis said.
He said he considered the meeting to be the second major step forward in the Vatican’s relations with the Muslim world. The Pope signed the Document on Human Fraternity with the Grand Imam of Al Azhar Dr Ahmed Al Tayeb during a historic trip to Abu Dhabi in 2019.
Pope Francis also responded to critics who questioned his efforts to strengthen ties with other faiths.
“Sometimes you have to take risks to take steps forward,” he said.
“These are risks that you take in prayer and in dialogue, in seeking advice and in reflection. They are not whims.”
But the four-day trip to Iraq, which included visits to Baghdad and Qaraqosh, was taxing on the Pope, 84. He apparently felt sciatica nerve pain, which meant he walked with a pronounced limp.
The pontiff said he was not sure whether he would have to slow the pace of his foreign trips in future.
“I do confess that on this trip I got a lot more tired than during other ones,” he said.
He said it was probably because of his age. “It’s a consequence. But we’ll see,” he said.
The pontiff’s next trip abroad will probably be to Budapest in Hungary, where he will attend the end of an international Eucharistic conference in September. His itinerary may include a trip to Bratislava in Slovakia, he said.
Otherwise, the only other trip he has promised to make is to Lebanon, although he offered no timetable.
“Lebanon is suffering,” Pope Francis said.
He said he was asked by the head of Lebanon’s Maronite Christian Church, Patriarch Bechara Rai, to schedule a trip to Beirut while he was in the region.
Pope Francis said he declined the request because he felt he would be offering crumbs to the people of Lebanon as they faced several major problems.
“But I wrote him a letter and promised I’d go to Lebanon,” the pontiff said.