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Seleukia-Ctesiphon - that sounds more mysterious than Wanne-Eickel.

But the former capital of the Persian Sassanid Empire on the Tigris had a lot in common with the Ruhr area: It was part of an urban agglomeration, where at the time you probably quickly lost track of which city you were actually in.

Quickly built from industrially manufactured material, the mud brick, which is why there is hardly anything left of it.

In late antiquity, up to 500,000 people lived there - one and a half hours by car southeast of Baghdad.

Seleukia-Ctesiphon was the seat of the Patriarch of the Chaldean Church and one of the centers of Christianity worldwide.

Oriental Christians who did not follow the "orthodox" teaching of the Byzantine Empire found refuge here.

Francis, who is visiting Iraq today, is not only traveling to a country torn by war, but also to one of the cradles of Christian civilization.

He can be congratulated on this courageous decision.

For although only a few hundred thousand Christians still live in Iraq - most of them emigrated in the face of terror, civil war and economic hardship - Iraq is today rediscovering its Christian heritage.

In 2020, the Iraqis celebrated Christmas as an official holiday for the first time after a parliamentary resolution.

The attacks by jihadist groups on minorities - including Christians - affected many Iraqis as much as the destruction of ancient cultural treasures.

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You can see this connection today: Religious minorities in Iraq refer to pre-Islamic cultures such as Assyrians, Chaldeans and Babylonians.

So whoever attacks the ancient Iraqi cultural heritage is aiming at the country's diverse identity.

The rifts between the denominations are far from over.

In stormy times everyone seeks protection under the next eaves - their own tribe or denomination.

Nevertheless, there are increasing signs of a rethinking: Sectarism and identitarian thinking are being questioned.

The anger of the population today is directed less against other religious groups than against the country's “political class”, which many believe has lost touch with the people.

Francis travels to a wounded country that longs for a new beginning.

The interreligious dialogue propagated by the Pope certainly does not bring healing.

But the considerable public interest in the trip shows that the Iraqis appreciate this symbolic politics.

The Pope's gesture reminds them that the country was better off in times of diversity and tolerance.

Iraq with its parliamentary democracy - albeit deficit - is a cornerstone of the Middle East.

When it falls apart, when politics and society drift apart and the country becomes a battlefield of rival powers, the whole Middle East will feel it.

And also Europe.

The still bustling “IS” is always ready to remind us of this now historical certainty.

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One step proposed by the Iraqi Prime Minister and many other political, religious and social voices is the National Dialogue: a process in which political, social, religious and secular forces agree on a new social contract;

in which citizens and the state overcome fear and distrust of one another.

This dialogue must be carried by Iraqi civil society - but it needs the support of a well-meaning force that is seen as sufficiently neutral in Iraq.

The European Union and its member states can play this role and shouldn't let the chance slip by.

It would be more sustainable and cheaper than military operations against the consequences of a renewed slide into political violence.

The Europeans now need some courage to take risks and the will to make a grand gesture in Iraq.

Today you can take an example from Francis.

Source: namwar

The author is an orientalist, editor-in-chief of the Middle East magazine zenith and director of the Candid Foundation in Berlin