The city of Qaraqosh, which welcomes Pope Francis on Sunday March 7, is like the rest of Iraq: many Christians who left during the rise of the Islamic State organization have never returned.

"Here, four years after the end of the fighting, only half of the population has returned," said Father George, priest of Qaraqosh, who hopes that Pope Francis, who is making a historic visit to Iraq from March 5 to 7, will encourage Christians to return home.

>> To read: The departure of Christians from the Middle East, "an incalculable damage" for Pope Francis

However, nothing encourages the inhabitants to return: there is no work, life has become difficult and apart from the occasional distribution of food, the inhabitants say they are not supported by the authorities.

Only the work of NGOs allowed a few families to prosper.

"The idea is to revive the whole city, but also the region. There is a whole economic recovery which makes it possible to recreate links between people, between communities and to rebuild peace", judges Amaury. Fraix, from the NGO Fraternité en Irak.

Pope Francis' program

Pope Francis' program in Iraq is ambitious: Baghdad, Najaf, Ur, Mosul, Qaraqosh, Erbil.

From Friday to Monday, he will travel 1,445 km in a country marked by Iranian-American tensions still latent and a record number of Covid-19 contaminations.

The journey will take place in an armored car and without a walkabout while the helicopter or the Pope's plane will sometimes fly over areas where jihadists from the Islamic State organization are still present.

The Iraqis will have to follow him on television.

  • The bishop of Rome will begin Friday in Baghdad with a speech to the country's leaders, addressing the security or economic difficulties faced by the 40 million Iraqis.

    The situation of the Christian minority will surely be mentioned.

  • He will then be received on Saturday in the holy city of Najaf by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the highest religious authority for many Shiites in Iraq and the world.

  • The Pope will then go to the ancient city of Ur, the birthplace, according to the Bible, of Patriarch Abraham, a character common to the three monotheistic religions.

    He will pray there with Muslims, Yazidis and Saneans (pre-Christian monotheisms).


  • François will continue his journey on Sunday in the province of Nineveh (northern Iraq), the cradle of Iraqi Christians.

    He will visit Mosul and Qaraqoch, two cities marked by destruction by the Islamic State group.

  • The Sovereign Pontiff will preside over an open-air mass on Sunday, in the presence of thousands of faithful, in Erbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

    This Kurdish Muslim stronghold had opened its doors wide to hundreds of thousands of Christians, Yazidis and Muslims fleeing the jihadists.

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