A Pilgrim of Peace
Pope Francis has just completed a three day visit of Iraq, lasting from the 5th until the 8th March. The visit helped lift the spirits of Iraq’s Christian population and will help pave the way for peace in the Middle Eastern country. During the visit, Pope Francis visited ACN projects.
By ACN Staff
Pope Francis with local Church leaders in Sayidat al-Nejat Syriac Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
On the 5th of March 2021, Pope Francis became the first Roman Pontiff to pay an Apostolic Visit to Iraq. This was one of many historic firsts to take place during the much-anticipated visit to Iraq by Pope Francis. The Holy Father had previously expressed his desire to visit the Middle Eastern, which has suffered so much in the last few decades.
Pope Francis leading prayer in Sayidat al-Nejat Syriac Catholic Cathedral. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
The visit was highly anticipated by Iraq’s Christian population. The Christians of Iraq have suffered greatly as Iraq has been torn apart by conflict. There had been around 1.5 million in Iraq twenty years ago. Now there are only 250,000. Over 80% of Iraqi Christians are Eastern Catholics. The majority of Iraqi-born Christians now live abroad. While on the plane to Iraq, the Pope was presented with documents provided by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which included a pricelist for Christian and Yazidi women and girls sold in slave-markets run by ISIS.
When Pope Francis landed in Baghdad, he was greeted by the Iraqi Prime Minister and senior churchmen. After being officially received by the Iraqi President, the Pope visited Sayidat al-Nejat Syriac Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad. In 2010, this cathedral was attacked by Al Qaeda. A total of 48 Christians and up to a dozen Iraqi police and soldiers were killed in the Islamist attack. The Pope was given a warm welcome by the local Syriac Catholics. The Pope led a prayer service, during which he wore one of the stoles made by the Syriac Catholics of Quaraqosh. The Pope expressed his solidarity with the local Christians.
The following day, 6th March, Pope Francis met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Al-Sistani is the most influential religious leader in Iraq and the highest-ranking Shia Muslim cleric in the world. Around 60% of Iraq’s population are Arab Shia Muslims. Al-Sistani is very well respected in the Shia Muslim world. He generally does not speak about political issues but when he does it has a huge impact. His denunciation of ISIS was key to defeating the radical Sunni Islamist group. It is reported that al-Sistani said during his meeting with Pope Francis that he believed Christians should be able to live in peace in Iraq and should be equal citizens under Iraq’s constitution. Given his influence with the Shia majority of Iraq, this could be a key breakthrough in securing a future for Christians in Iraq.
Local Christian women in traditional dress, Quaraqosh. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
After meeting with al-Sistani, Pope Francis travelled to the ancient city of Ur, the birthplace of Abraham. Pope Francis became the first pope to visit the city. While there, the Pope led a prayer service for peace in Iraq. After that the Pope made another first. In St. Joseph’s Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad, Pope Francis became the first pope to celebrate Mass in the Chaldean Rite. The readings and hymns were in Arabic and Chaldean (a dialect of Aramaic, the language spoken by Our Lord Jesus Christ). The Pope’s homily on the Beatitudes was in Italian and was translated into Arabic. The Liturgy of the Eucharist was also celebrated by the Pope in Italian. Cardinal Louis Raphaël I Sako, the Patriarch of Babylon for the Chaldeans was also present, as he was with the Pope for most of the Papal Visit.
The Pope’s attention on the 7th of March was fixed on the north of Iraq. This is the Christian heartland in Iraq. The Pope visited the destroyed city of Mosul. Mosul had acted as ISIS’s capital during their despotic reign in the north of Iraq. Mosul had previously been the city in Iraqi with the largest number of Christians. There are now around 70 Christian families in the city, with the majority of Mosul’s Christians too scared to return. ISIS had once boldly proclaimed they would take their jihad to Rome. Now, instead, the Bishop of Roman walks the streets of their former Iraqi capital in order to uplift the spirits of the very same Christians ISIS had tormented and persecuted. While in Mosul, the Pope visited the shattered remains of Hosh al-Bieaa Church Square in the city’s Christian quarter. The square showcases the diversity of Iraq’s Christianity containing four churches: a Syriac Catholic church, a Syriac Orthodox church, a Chaldean Catholic church and a church belonging to the Armenian Apostolic Church. These churches are currently being reconstructed. The Pope was welcomed by the last remaining priest in Mosul, Fr Raid Adel Kallo of the Syriac Catholic Church. The Pope led prayers for the victims of ISIS in the shattered remains of Mosul’s Syriac Catholic church. The very place ISIS had once threatened to execute him.
Pope Francis in Al-Tahira Syriac Catholic church. reconstructed by Aid to the Church in Need. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
Afterwards, the Holy Father travelled to the nearby Christian town of Quaraqosh. This town had also been overrun by ISIS. ISIS had almost completely destroyed the town’s Al-Tahira Syriac Catholic church. With the help of the benefactors of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the church was renovated and reopened in time for the Pope’s visit. The local population was jubilant during the Papal visit. Head of Projects for ACN, Regina Lynch, traveled with the Pope and reported the scenes of celebration:
“The joy of the people was catching. Thousands lined the streets to see the pope as he drove past. I saw religious sisters dancing. These were people who had come back after being forced to leave their homes because of ISIS. What the pope saw here were truly the living stones of the Church in Iraq.”
Regina also reported that the local Christian population is very young and full of life, and there is a future for Christianity in Iraq. The Pope led the local Syriac Catholic population in the Angelus, a powerful reminder of how Eastern Catholics are full members of the Universal Church. The Pope also met a Christian mother who forgave ISIS for killing her son. Regina explains further:
“She has forgiven the perpetrators. She believes that this is what her faith called her to do. That was a very powerful moment.”
After this the Pope visited the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, Erbil. The vast of the majority of Christians who fled ISIS were granted refuge by the Kurdish government. It was here that ACN provided for the needs of the Christian refugees. A large portion of the Christians ultimately left Iraq. A continuous number of the Christians are starting to return to their ancestral home in the Nineveh Plains, ACN will of course help these Christians to rebuild. A large number of Christians still remain in the Kurdish region, particularly Erbil. Erbil is likely to be, in the years to come, the Iraqi city with the largest numbers of Christians. For this reason ACN has announced a €1.5 million scholarship programme for the Catholic University of Erbil. The Pope travelled to the main stadium in Erbil to celebrate Holy Mass. The capacity of the stadium is normally 30,000 but had been reduced to 10,000 due to COVID. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered in the Roman Rite. The hymns for the Mass were traditional Chaldean hymns. The first reading was also in Chaldean. The second reading in Kurdish. The Gospels was acclaimed in Arabic. All other aspects of the Mass were celebrated in Italian. The Pope again expressed his solidarity with the Iraqi Christians and his admiration for the Iraqi martyrs. After celebrating the Eucharist Pope Francis blessed a statue of Our Lady that had been desecrated by ISIS.
Pope Francis greeting local Christian in Al-Tahira Syriac Catholic church. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
At the end of the Mass the Pope thanked the Kurdish authorities for their cooperation during the visit and also for the protection they offered to the Christians of Iraq. The Pope also thanked the Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East and the Syriac Orthodox representatives for attending the Mass. The Pope also thanked ROACO, an umbrella organisation of Catholic charities including ACN, for their work in keeping Christianity in Iraq alive. On the 8th of March, Pope Francis left Iraq through Baghdad airport, with the Iraqi president present to say goodbye.
The decision of Pope Francis to visit Iraq was very brave. Iraq is still a war zone. The Pope was aware of this and was why he wanted to go on a pilgrimage of peace. The Pope’s visit lifted the spirits of Iraq’s Christians, that is for certain. It showed to the Catholics that they have not been forgotten by the wider Church. It is also hoped by Iraqi Christians that the visit will raise awareness of their plight both at home and abroad. While speaking to ACN in advance of the Papal visit, the Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil, Bashar Matti Warda, explained many Iraqi Muslims were completely ignorant about Iraqi Christians and Christianity in general. It is hoped they may realise that Iraqi Christians, such as the Chaldeans, have been Iraq long before the Muslims, and are not a foreign incursion. To learn more about the Pope’s visit to Iraq and the work carried out there by ACN, please visit our Lent Campaign page.