Pope calls for an end to extremism and violence in his visit to Iraq

The 84-year-old is defying a second wave of the global pandemic and renewed security fears to make a “long-awaited” trip to comfort one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, while also deepening his dialogue with Muslims.

Francis landed in the afternoon at Baghdad’s International Airport, where he was greeted by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, as well as groups showcasing Iraq’s diverse folklore music and dance.

“May there be an end to acts of violence and extremism, factions and intolerance!” urged Francis in the stirring address, his first after arriving in Iraq.

He then met with President Barham Salih – who had extended the official invitation to the pontiff in 2019 – as well as other government and religious figures.

At the imposing presidential palace, the head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics gave a moving address, stressing the deep roots of Christianity in Iraq.

He also urged Iraqi officials to “combat the scourge of corruption, misuse of power and disregard for law”, in a country consistently ranked one of the most graft-tainted by Transparency International.

“The age-old presence of Christians in this land, and their contributions to the life of the nation, constitute a rich heritage that they wish to continue to place at the service of all,” said Pope Francis.

The pope, a prominent promoter of interfaith dialogue, also hailed other devastated Iraqi minorities.

“Here, among so many who have suffered, my thoughts turn to the Yazidis, innocent victims of senseless and brutal atrocities,” he said.

Just like Iraq’s Christian population, the esoteric Yazidi community was ravaged in 2014 by the Islamic State group’s sweep over much of northern Iraq.

Francis, who wore a mask during the flight to Baghdad, kept it on as he descended the stairs to the tarmac and was greeted by two masked children in traditional dress. 

A red carpet was rolled out on the tarmac at Baghdad’s international airport with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on hand to greet him. 

The pope said he was making the first-ever papal visit to Iraq as a “pilgrim of peace”, and that he will also reach out to Shiite Muslims when he meets Iraq’s top cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.  

The four-day journey is the pope’s first abroad since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, which left the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics saying he felt “caged” inside the Vatican.

While Francis has been vaccinated, Iraq has been gripped by a second wave with a record of over 5,000 new cases a day, prompting authorities to impose full lockdowns during the pontiff’s visit.

Security was tight in Iraq, a country that is still hunting for Islamic State group sleeper cells after years of war and insurgency. Only days ago, a barrage of rockets were shot into a military base hosting US troops. 

Hundreds of people had gathered along the airport road with hopes of catching a glimpse of the pope’s plane touching down. 

Iraqis were keen to welcome him and the global attention his visit will bring, with banners and posters hanging high in central Baghdad, and billboards depicting Francis with the slogan “We are all Brothers” decorating the main thoroughfare. 

Services in ravaged churches, refurbished stadiums 

Francis will preside over a half-dozen services in ravaged churches, refurbished stadiums and remote desert locations, where attendance will be limited to allow for social distancing.

Inside the country, he will travel more than 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) by plane and helicopter, flying over areas where security forces are still battling Islamic State group remnants.

For shorter trips, Francis will take an armored car on freshly paved roads that will be lined with flowers and posters welcoming the leader known here as “Baba Al-Vatican”.

The pope’s visit has deeply touched Iraq’s Christians, whose numbers have collapsed over years of persecution and sectarian violence, from 1.5 million in 2003 to fewer than 400,000 today.

“We’re hoping the pope will explain to the government that it needs to help its people,” a Christian from Iraq’s north, Saad al-Rassam, told our reporters. “We have suffered so much, we need the support.”   

‘Too many martyrs’ 

The first day of the pope’s ambitious itinerary will see him meet government officials and clerics in the capital Baghdad, including at the Our Lady of Salvation church, where a jihadist attack left dozens dead in 2010.

He will also visit the northern province of Nineveh, where in 2014 Islamic State group jihadists forced minorities to either flee, convert to Islam or be put to death.

“People had only a few minutes to decide if they wanted to leave or be decapitated,” recalled Karam Qacha, a Chaldean Catholic priest in Nineveh. 

“We left everything – except our faith.”

Some 100,000 Christians – around half of those who lived in the province – fled, of whom just 36,000 have returned, according to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.

Among the returnees, a third have said they want to leave again in coming years, dismayed by Iraq’s rampant corruption, persecution and poverty, which now affects 40 percent of the population.

The exodus is a loss for all of Iraq, said Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, who heads the Vatican’s Congregation for the Oriental Churches and will accompany the pope to Iraq. 

“A Middle East without Christians is like trying to make bread with flour, but no yeast or salt,” he said. 

The visit aims not only to encourage Christians to stay in their homeland, but even prompt some emigres to return from nearby Lebanon and Jordan, or further afield like Canada and Australia.

In a video address ahead of the trip, Francis evoked “the wounds of loved ones left behind and homes abandoned”, saying there had been “too many martyrs” in Iraq. 

“I come as a pilgrim, a penitent pilgrim to implore forgiveness and reconciliation from the Lord after years of war and terrorism.”                

‘Minarets and church bells’

The pope has insisted on the visit despite resurging violence.

Rocket attacks across the country have left three people dead in recent weeks, including a US contractor who died Wednesday.

Francis’s determination to travel to areas long shunned by foreign dignitaries has impressed many in Iraq – as has his planned meeting with Sistani, 90, the top authority for Iraq’s Shiites.

A highly reclusive figure who rarely accepts visitors, Sistani will make an exception to host Francis at his humble home in the shrine city of Najaf on Saturday. 

Banners all over Najaf have celebrated “the historic encounter, between the minarets and the church bells”.

Francis will afterwards head to the desert site of Ur, where Abraham is thought to have been born.

There, he will host an interfaith service that will bring together not only the Abrahamic religions but also include followers of other beliefs, including Yazidis and Sabeans.