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Photo posted, Reuters
Pope Francis in the ruins of the churches of Mosul
On the third day of his historic trip to Iraq, Pope Francis will visit areas in the north of the country that were under the control of the Islamic State.
When the organization took control of the area in 2014, Christians were the target of widespread violations.
The Pope arrived in the city of Mosul, where he prayed over the ruins of its churches, many of which were destroyed in the battles.
Later he will celebrate a mass in Erbil, which is expected to be attended by thousands of people.
Fears
The religious gathering is feared to facilitate the spread of the Corona virus.
Iraq witnessed a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in the past month. The 84-year-old pope and those around him were vaccinated against the virus, but Iraq did not receive its first batch of vaccines until last week.
Photo posted, Reuters
Christians have been present in Iraq since the 1st century AD
This visit is the Pope’s first trip abroad since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic and the first papal trip in history to the country.
Where did the Pope go on Sunday?
Upon his arrival in Erbil, he was received by the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, and from there he traveled by helicopter to Mosul, where he prayed in one of his churches for the lives of the victims of the war against ISIS. in which thousands of civilians died.
Amid the ruins of the four churches in the city of Mosul, he said: “The exodus of Christians from Iraq and the Middle East in general has caused” serious “harm not to Christian individuals and groups, but to societies that left behind as well.
Referring to historic Mesopotamia, the Pope said: “How can this country, the cradle of civilizations, be exposed to such barbarous acts, sabotaging historic places of worship and displacing and killing thousands of Muslims, Christians and Yazidis?”
He added: “Here we reaffirm our belief that brotherhood is more permanent than struggle, hope is stronger than hatred and peace is stronger than war.”
The Islamic State has vandalized Christian places of worship and destroyed Christian religious symbols and monuments. Tens of thousands of Christians fled the organization’s government, and those who remained had their property confiscated and chose between paying the tax, converting to Islam, leaving or being killed.
Photo posted, EPA
Destruction in the churches of Mosul
According to media reports, the cross erected in Mosul in honor of the Pope during his visit was made from the remains of chairs that were salvaged from destroyed churches in the area.
In the nearby city of Qarahqosh, the Pope met with Christians in a historic church that was restored after being burned by ISIS.
Yusra Mubarak, 33, said before the Pope’s visit: “I cannot express my happiness, it is a historical fact that will not be repeated.”
Yusra was pregnant in her third month when she left home with her husband seven years ago to escape the violence.
She added in a statement to Reuters: “They were difficult days. We fled with our clothes and nothing else. When we returned we found nothing. But our hope was that we would return here, and here we are, and the Pope is visiting us.”
Photo posted, Reuters
The Pope in a restored church in the city of Qarqosh
What is the message that the Pope transmits?
Since his arrival in Baghdad, the Pope has called for an end to violence and extremism. He said that the dwindling Christian minority in Iraq should play a prominent role in the country because they are citizens who enjoy full rights, freedoms and duties.
And he delivered the same message in his historic meeting with the great Shiite cleric, Ali al-Sistani, in the city of Najaf, saying that Christians have the right to live in peace and security like other Iraqis.
The 90-year-old Shiite leader rarely interviews, but spoke with the pope for 50 minutes without either wearing a muzzle.
Next, the Pope visited the site of the historic city of Ur, where he believes the prophet Abraham was born, in whom Jews, Christians and Muslims believe.
Religious and sectarian violence in Iraq targeted minorities, and the country experienced a bloody sectarian war between Shiites and Sunnis.
Photo posted, EPA
The Pope spoke with Sistani 50 minutes
How are the conditions of Christians in Iraq?
Iraqi Christians are among the oldest Christian groups in the world. In the past two decades, their number has decreased from 1.4 million to 250,000, less than 1 percent of the country’s population.
Many of them migrated abroad to escape the violence that has gripped the country since the 2003 US invasion and the fall of President Saddam Hussein.
A US State Department report on religious freedoms in Iraq in 2019 revealed that Sunni Christians and Muslims complain about harassment by Shiite security services at checkpoints and sectarian education in education. .
Who are the Iraqi Christians?
Christianity came to what is known today in Iraq in the 1st century AD According to the United States Department of State, Christian clerics say there are fewer than 250,000 Christians in Iraq, and most of them, about 200,000, live in the Nineveh Plain and the Kurdistan region in the north of the country.
67 percent of them are Chaldean Catholics, whose eastern church maintains its own religious rites and traditions but recognizes the authority of the Pope in Rome, while 20 percent belong to the Assyrian Church of the East, which are believed to be the churches. oldest in Iraq. .
The rest belong to Orthodox Syriacs, Catholic Syriacs, Catholic Armenians, Armenian Apostles, as well as Anglicans, Evangelists, and Protestants.
