The Pope's trip to Iraq, video message to the Iraqi people: "I wish to meet you"
The Pope ready for the pilgrimage to Iraq: "You cannot disappoint a people for the second time"
Share
By Zouhir Louassini
04 March 2021 Addressing the Christians expelled by Daesh terrorists, Iraq's Muslims posted images of the houses and churches they were repairing on social networks. Those photos said, "Come back!" to the Nasara (Nazarenes), "go home". The Pope's next trip to Baghdad - scheduled for March 5 - can only fill the hearts of people like this. Never in recent years has a papal trip aroused so much interest.
Nothing could hinder Francis on his journey to Iraq: neither the pandemic, nor the lack of security, nor the political instability of a country so central to the history of religions.
Going anyway, albeit in such uncertain circumstances, confirms the importance that the bishop of Rome attributes to this unique and emblematic "pilgrimage".
There is not a moment in the itinerary planned by the pontiff in which one does not see a gesture, a message, a sign towards the Iraqis and, through them, towards all humanity.
It will be three intense days, the journey will last so long, with attention to the smallest details.
Immediately after his arrival and the official protocol ceremonies, the Pope will meet bishops, priests, religious, seminarians and catechists in the Syrian-Catholic Cathedral of "Our Lady of Salvation" in Baghdad: this is the place where 44 faithful were killed in an attack. jihadist, in October 2010.
Victims who are part of the very long list of deaths among the entire Iraqi population and which seemed, in the case of Christians, the result of a strategy aimed at implementing a real religious cleansing, decided by certain circles;
the intent was clear: to empty the country of its Christian population.
A strategy, it must be said, rewarded by significant success.
In a few years the number of Christians in Iraq - one of the oldest communities in the Middle East - has in fact decreased considerably: after the American invasion of 2003, due to the abuses suffered by fanatical Islamists and, after 2014, because of the violence of the self-proclaimed Islamic State.
Although there are no official figures, organizations such as AED (Aide à l'Église en Détresse) estimate that the Iraqi Christian population, since the American invasion, has decreased by more than 90%, from one and a half million faithful. in 2003 to less than 150,000 in 2019.
Faced with this dramatic condition, the Pope's trip takes on a triple meaning: a strong invitation to the Christians of Iraq not to abandon their country, an exhortation to return addressed to those who are fled and a stimulus for local authorities to become aware of the gravity of the situation.
On the second day, the Pope will move to Najaf, the holy city of Shiite Muslims, for a "courtesy visit" to Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Al-Husaymi Al-Sistani.
It will be a truly "historic" meeting, in every sense.
Despite his ninety years, Ali Sistani is one of the most influential personalities in the social and political life of the country, even if he does not like to appear in public.
Two years after meeting the great imam of Al-Azhar, the Sunni Ahmad Al-Tayeb in Egypt, Pope Francis continues to pursue his dream of brotherhood.
He will do so by meeting one of the largest Shiite authorities in the world.
With the substantial difference that, while in the Sunni world there is no clergy organized on a precise hierarchy, in the Shiite reality the situation is different.
Al-Sistani is the high authority in the Iraqi Shiite world.
His followers regard him as their own "pope".
For this reason, the meeting, even if of a private nature, will have a global resonance given its personality and the influence it has among Iraqis, including Sunnis.
Certainly the symbolic and religious importance of this meeting cannot hide its geopolitical nuances.
An Iranian national, Ayatollah al-Sistani is recognized for his independence and his desire to see Iraq regain its sovereignty.
Its relations with Iran, a country that interferes extensively in Iraqi affairs, are therefore very difficult.
The choice to meet al-Sistani in Najaf can therefore be read as a direct and clear support from the Pope to the Iraqi Shiites.
For many observers within Shiism there is a struggle to gain leadership;
a rivalry that refers to two distinct schools of thought: that of Qom, in Iran, and that of Najaf, in Iraq.
One is part of the legacy of Ayatollah Khomeini, who came to power in Iran after the 1979 revolution. This current, which still governs Tehran, believes that there should be no separation between temporal and spiritual power.
The opposite position to that of the Najaf school, embodied by Ali al-Sistani.
The Iraqis, and probably also the Iranian authorities, have well understood the dimension and meaning of the Pope's choices on this trip.
After the visit to Najaf, the Pope will fly to Nassiriya, for the interreligious meeting at the Plain of Ur, the land of Abraham, a common figure and symbolic interconnection between Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Here the message brought from Rome is clear, especially for those who believe in the possibility of speaking directly with God: they will all be there, together with Abraham, to ask for peace in a land that has suffered from war for more than forty years.
The last stage of the apostolic journey is set in the autonomous region of Kurdistan.
Its capital, Erbil, will be the scene of the third "highlight" of Francesco's trip.
The metropolis, which experienced a rapid demographic and urban expansion, after 2014 became a refuge for tens of thousands of people fleeing the crimes of Daesh.
And even from here, from Iraqi Kurdistan, a message of peace, not too veiled, will inevitably run to Ankara's ever attentive ears.
It is very likely that, during his historic trip to Iraq, Pope Francis will place the most marked emphasis on the concept (and practice) of fraternity.
In the wake of his latest encyclical "Brothers all", he will reiterate that peace is not possible without the respect due to each community, to each person;
that it is possible to find a good agreement between different cultures and religions, in the belief that "the things we have in common are so many and important that it is possible to identify a way of peaceful, orderly and peaceful coexistence, in welcoming differences and in joy to be brothers because they are children of one God ".