Archaeological discoveries

Iraq's martyr cities welcome Pope for historic visit, first in 2,000 years

Despite the challenges posed by the global Covid-19 pandemic and security, Pope Francis will travel to Iraq on Friday, March 5, 2021, a visit eagerly awaited by the population.

A Baghdad resident takes a selfie in front of a poster of the pope. The pontiff will travel to Iraq for the first time during a three-day visit from March 5 to 8, 2021.

It's historic! For the first time in 2000 years, a pope will visit Iraq from March 5 to 8, 2021. During this three-day trip to this Middle Eastern country, the cradle of Christianity, Pope Francis will come to support the Christian minority still present in this country scarred by years of war, and more recently by the violence of the abuses of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS).

A visit to the Syrian-Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Intercession

At 84, the sovereign pontiff should cover more than 1600 km. On his arrival in Baghdad, after having met the authorities of the country, his program will lead him to the Syrian-Catholic cathedral of Our Lady of the Intercession where 44 Christians had perished during a bloody hostage-taking by jihadists. in October 2010; then on Saturday March 6, he will travel to Najaf to meet the highest religious authority in the Shiite world, Ayatollah Ali Sistani. On Sunday March 7, the leader of Christianity is expected in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. There, he should celebrate a mass in front of an audience of at least 8,000 people, after traveling to the plain of Nineveh, Mosul and Qaraqosh, the largest Christian city in Iraq. Two martyred cities, which remained under the yoke of the Islamic State for three years, between 2014 and 2017.

Interior of a Christian church located north of the city of Mosul, devastated by the state Islamic in 2017. It should receive a visit from the sovereign pontiff. ©Zaid Al-Obeidi /AFP

Then, the pope will reach the south of the country and the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur, the birthplace of Abraham according to the Old Testament.

Chaldeans, Armenian Orthodox and Protestants:the Christian community of Iraq

After meeting Sunni Islamic authorities in 2019, during an interview in Abu-Dhabi with the Imam of Al-Azhar, the pope will this time turn to the Shiites, the majority in Iraq. "The pope's message is that the Church stands with those who suffer" , the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Mosul and Aqra, Najeeb Michael, told AFP. In 2014, this Dominican brother had saved, at the risk of his life, more than 800 ancient manuscripts of Christians who had fled Mosul, which Daesh fighters had promised to destroy.

Digitalization at a research center in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, of rescued ancient Christian manuscripts of Mosul and the destruction by the Islamic State group. ©Safin Hamed / AFP

The Christian community in Iraq is one of the oldest in the world. It is made up of Chaldeans (Catholics), Orthodox Armenians and Protestants. But from about 1.5 million inhabitants under the regime of Saddam Hussein (1979-2003), the number of Christians currently in Iraq has dropped to 400,000 souls. If a large part took refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan, almost half are today in Europe, Australia, Canada and the United States.

Also according to AFP, 150 people, half of them journalists, will accompany the sovereign pontiff on this historic trip, where the Covid-19 pandemic and security issues will also be major concerns. Iraq continues to be the victim of attacks. On January 21, 2021, two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a market in central Baghdad killing 32 people and injuring more than 100. And again on March 3, ten rockets fell on the Ain Al-Assad military base, in the province of Anbar, in the western desert where there are troops of the coalition led by the United States. The settling of accounts between the United States and Iran is still continuing on Iraqi soil. After the failure of a first trip organized for Pope John Paul II canceled in 2000, Pope Francis does not want to disappoint the Iraqis a second time.

B.A. with AFP