Pope’s visit brings hope to Iraqi Christians
Between the 5th-8th March, Pope Francis will be visiting Iraq. A Papal visit is always a special event, but this one is particularly important for Iraq’s Christian population. They are still recovering from ISIS and the security and economic situation in Iraq is still very unstable. Pope Francis’s visit is a mission of peace that will hopefully, through God’s Grace, restore hope to Iraq.
By ACN Staff
Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda (Archbishop of the Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Erbil) during Palm Sunday. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
Many Christians in Iraq are hopefully about the Pope’s visit to the county in roughly a week’s time. In a meeting with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Erbil, Bashar Warda, said that he hopes that the visit will raise awareness about Iraqi Christians amongst the general Iraqi population. The archbishop continues:
Young Catholics at Holy Mass, St. Joseph's Latin Catholic Cathedral, Bagdad. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need/Bartek Zytkowiak)
“People in Iraq know little about us. We hope there will be more awareness that we are not guests but original inhabitants of the country.”
The Pope’s visit is a mission of peace. It is hoped by the archbishop that Pope Francis will be an instrument of God to help with bring peace to Iraq again. Some Islamists are not happy that the Pope is visiting Iraq. The archbishop elaborates further:
“Some religious fundamentalists are behaving in a hostile manner on social media towards the Pope’s trip. Anything that comes from the West is considered a crusade by them. For these people, the Pope is the king of crusaders, who comes to the country as a missionary.”
The archbishop has higher hopes for the younger people of Iraq. Pope Francis is by most accounts quite popular with them. The younger people recognise that the Pope is sincere in his concern for the people of the Middle East and wants the best for the people there. The archbishop explains that the Iraqi people have seen over the years the Pope continuously call for prayer for peace in Iraq and Syria. They see him as an honest broker.
Syriac Catholic procession in Qaraqosh, Iraq. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
The archbishop has stated any concerns over security will not stop the Pope visiting. The Pope knows he is visiting a warzone and this is part of the reason why the Pope wants to visit, as a mission of peace. The recent security alerts and attacks are, according to Archbishop Warda, pretty stand and normal in Iraq. The Pope is scheduled to visit Erbil on 7th March. Archbishop Warda and his diocese have been hard at work. The archbishop has said that the autonomous Kurdish Government in Iraq (Erbil is the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan) have been extremely helpful in providing support. They provided the stadium the Pope will celebrate Mass in, and they have also been taking care of security arrangements in Erbil.
The archbishop said there is some disappointment over restrictions that have had to be made because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pope is not able to visit everywhere they would have liked him to and the stadium will have 10,000 people instead of 30,000 people for Mass. The archbishop said the people are disappointed, but they understand why there are restrictions.
The last decade has been extremely difficult for Iraq’s Christians. When ISIS invaded the Christian homeland in northern Iraq’s Nineveh Plains, many dreaded that this might spell the end of Christianity in Iraq. This has not been the case. Thanks to support of ACN’s benefactors Iraqi Christians have been able to stay in their homeland and begin to rebuild. There are still issues. The archbishop says the security situation is still concern, as is the economy. ACN intends on standing by Iraq’s Christians in the years to come so Christianity will still live in the Middle East.