Pope's visit to Iraq: the diplomacy of reconciliation
Employees of the municipality put up posters welcoming Pope Francis in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on March 4, 2021. AFP - AHMAD AL-RUBAYE
Text by: Éric Senanque
4 min
The first trip abroad in fifteen months, this apostolic trip is a first for the head of the Catholic Church on this land where the Bible locates the birth of Abraham.
Pope Francis wishes to invite the different communities to dialogue and reconciliation.
It is also a question of supporting the Christian minorities on the spot.
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From our special correspondent
,
The pope's trip to Iraq almost took place at the end of 1999, just before the great jubilee of the year 2000. John Paul II, at the time, had expressed his wish to set foot on the land where, according to the scriptures, Abraham was born, a patriarch whose Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions are claimed.
But at the time diplomacy was stronger.
The United States lobbied to dissuade the Polish Pope from visiting Saddam Hussein, Washington's number one enemy.
But Americans fear the Iraqi regime will manipulate the pontifical travel for political ends.
It is ultimately Baghdad which will inform the Vatican that the Pope's trip is no longer opportune, leaving the dream of John Paul II to become silted up in the desert.
Benedict XVI had not been able to visit the country crossed by war either.
François will therefore be able to make his predecessor's wish come true.
"
The Iraqi people are waiting for us, we cannot disappoint them a second time,
" he explained on Wednesday March 3 at the end of his general audience, showing his determination.
A symbolic journey
Pope Francis will visit a land marked by years of war and terrorism to echo a message of peace and reconciliation.
The Pope said it in a video message to the Iraqis: "
I come as a pilgrim to implore forgiveness and reconciliation from the Lord after years of war and terrorism
".
Among the highlights, there is this meeting planned in Ur, the city of Abraham, the father of the three monotheisms for an interreligious meeting, but also - and this is a first - a private meeting with Ayatollah al-Sistani in the holy city of Najaf, cradle of Shiism.
After reaching out to the Sunnis by signing the document on human brotherhood with the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, the Pope will therefore open a dialogue with the other main branch of Islam, the majority in Iraq.
Francis also comes of course to give a message of comfort to the Christians of Iraq whose number has melted like snow in the sun because of the war and the persecutions of Daesh.
The Pope who also mentioned the Yazidi minority itself also particularly persecuted by the Islamic State ...
A tense health context
The Covid-19 pandemic is not sparing Iraq either.
For several weeks, Iraqis have been living under curfew and travel from one province to another has been suspended due to the increase in cases of contagion.
Many, including here in Rome, thought this pontifical trip in the midst of the pandemic came at the wrong time, but precautions were taken.
The organizers of the trip made sure that on the sites where the Pope is expected the sanitary rules of distancing can be.
One of the hauntings of the Pope and the Holy See is that this trip turns into a "viral bomb" and accelerates the spread of the virus in Iraq.
François, himself, just like his delegation and all the journalists covering the trip arrive in any case vaccinated against Covid-19 (the Vatican has demanded it), but the health situation remains very fragile.
The apostolic nuncio in Baghdad (the representative of the Holy See on the spot) is himself positive and nothing says that the joy of the Iraqis to receive Francis can be compatible with the strictest sanitary measures.
► Also to listen: The legal battle of the Christians of Iraq against the abusive expropriation
► To read also
:
Visit of the Pope to Iraq: a trip under high tension in an unstable country
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