Christians in Iraq still fear insecurity

By Jean Charles Putzolu and Lisa Zengarini

On March 5, 2021, Pope Francis began his historic journey Apostolic journey to Iraq, marking the first visit by a pontiff to the Middle Eastern country.

During his four-day stay, the Pope visited Baghdad, as well as the Plain of Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, and the cities of Najaf, Nassiriya, Erbil, Mosul and Qaraqosh, where he met with communities Christians and political and religious representatives. leaders.

The main objective of this trip was to bring closeness and spiritual support to the declining Christian communities in Iraq, still reeling from four years of persecution by the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, and to encourage dialogue and interfaith understanding.

Iraqi Christians are still victims of persecution

In a country of about 40 million people, the Christian population has been in steady decline for decades, from about 1.4 million in 2003 to about 250,000 today.

Archbishop Najeeb explained that although Pope Francis has provided comfort and encouraged expatriate Iraqi Christians to resettle following the military defeat of ISIS in 2017, many are still hesitant and families continue to emigrate of the Nineveh Plain and Iraqi Kurdistan, due to persistent insecurity.

He said Christians in the area continue to face intimidation and violence from local militias, and most of their homes destroyed during ISIS's occupation remain in ruins.

Meeting with Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is the most positive outcome of the visit

One of the highlights of Pope Francis' visit was his meeting with Iraq's highest Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and the declaration on fraternity that complemented the Abu Dhabi document that the pope signed in February 2019 with the Sunni grand imam of al-Sistani. Azhar., Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb.

According to Archbishop Najeeb, this event constitutes one of the most positive results of Pope Francis' visit to Iraq and a further step towards mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims, given that Shiites represent between 60 and 65% of the population. Muslim of the country. .

“It was a great meeting which cleared up many misunderstandings,” he said. “We are no longer considered enemies”, but “as brothers in humanity”.

Islamist terrorism abuses religion

Finally, when asked about the current attitude of Iraqi Muslim leaders towards Islamist extremists, Archbishop Najeeb said that Muslims quickly understood that the views of ISIS did not represent true Islam and opposed them. “This form of Islam advocated by ISIS has, on the one hand, disfigured friendship between Sunni and Shiite Muslim communities, and on the other hand, Islam has also been used to distort interfaith friendship “, did he declare.