Francis in Iraq: the determination of a pope
A passerby in front of a mural of Pope Francis in Baghdad, March 1, 2021 © Khalid Mohammed / AP
By: Geneviève Delrue
2 min
Publicity
World Religions -
Sunday March 7, 2021 -
10:10 am -
11am Paris Time
The Covid and a fragile security situation did not get the better of Pope Francis' desire to go to Iraq and accomplish what Pope John Paul II was unable to achieve.
A 3-day visit to comfort the 350,000 Christians in this country which has seen this community melt down.
In the land of the origins of the three monotheistic religions, the Pope comes to bring a word of peace and reconciliation while the country is struggling to emerge from the chaos left by three decades of war and Islamist terrorism.
From Baghdad to Erbil via Najaf, Moussoul and Qaraqosh, each stage of this journey is intended to leave an imprint: In Najaf with the meeting with Ayatollah Al Sistani, the highest Iraqi Shiite authority, in Ur with a great meeting interreligious.
Christian Lochon
, Arabist, specialist in the Middle East, the Maghreb and Eastern Christians;
Laurence Desjoyaux
, senior reporter for the weekly
La Vie
de retour de Mossoul;
Father Patrick Desbois
, president of the Yahad in Unum association which has been documenting the Yezidis genocide since 2015
;
the Dominican Iraqi brother Amir Jaj
, a specialist in Shiism; and
Arthur Herlin
, who covers the Pope's trip for the Vatican press agency I-Media.
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Pope Francis
Iraq
Religion
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