As we reflect on Pope Francis’ recent visit to Iraq, I think it is worthwhile to highlight the layers of success that will lead to a more peaceful and harmonious world. Pope Francis was able to accomplish in this visitation what his two predecessors ardently wished to do but were unable to do for various reasons.
One of the main reasons the last two popes could not make the trip was because of security issues. In reality Iraq was just as dangerous a country to visit but it is also compounded by the pandemic which is still out of control. Pope Francis defied many of the voices inside and outside the Vatican telling him it was too dangerous to travel to Iraq. His courage and determination to visit first and foremost the Christian communities that have suffered greatly from the cruelty of the ISIS insurgency, and ongoing violent division within the Islamic world between Sunni and Shia, was undaunted as he stepped into this volatile mix to bring a message of encouragement and hope.
This dangerous area of the Middle East has a religious makeup that is almost 99% Muslim, and the Muslim community is almost evenly divided among those who self-identify as Sunni and Shia Muslims. For centuries, these two dominant strains of Islam have had a rather contentious relationship that has spilled over into the geopolitical tensions of many of the countries that comprise the Middle East, but most especially in Iraq and Iran.
Between the years 1980-88 a war between these two countries saw an enormous death toll. Though the war was waged over territories in question, the fervor of emotions and human sacrifice was rooted in the ongoing Sunni – Shia hegemony. This terrible war was followed by the disastrous Gulf wars that upended the Sunni dominance in Iraq which contributed to the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (known to us as ISIS, ISIL or Dash). ISIS is a Sunni jihadist group with a violent ideology that calls itself caliphate and claims religious authority over all Muslims.
The minority religions in Iraq were caught in the crossfire of these waring factions. The minority religions include Christianity, Yazidism, Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism and Judaism. Within the Christian community there are four main divisions, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syriac and Eastern Orthodox. After all the internecine wars, Christians dwindled by 83%, from around 1.5 million to less than 250,000. Following the ISIS insurgency at least 125,000 Christians fled, many of them to Syria or elsewhere. The other minority religions also suffered greatly during these times.
Into this volatile mix comes Pope Francis who is aware of all this history, bringing a simple yet powerful message of peace and human fraternity. My thoughts turned to the Scriptural message found in the Gospel of Saint Matthew, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” Pope Francis hit all the right messages and traveled to places of profound meaning on many levels and met with the right people to first protect the minorities and challenge Iraqis and the world toward a more peaceful future.
One of the important moments in his journey of peace was to meet with the revered leader of Shia Muslims in Iraq, the Grand Ayatollah Ali-Sistani. At this meeting he strategically built upon his prior meeting with the Grand Imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb (Sunni Muslim leader) when he traveled to the United Arab Emirates to sign onto a joint declaration of human fraternity. At his meeting with Ali-Sistani he was assured of the Ayatollah’s desire to protect the Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq. He even referred to Ali-Sistani as “the leader of Shiites,” a subtle message to the other Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran. This was a real coup as he waded into the even more complicated tensions within Shia divides of Persian or Arab supremacy.
He also intentionally visited Mosul, where he prayed at the ruins of four churches that were destroyed by ISIS. He challenged Christians to follow the Master’s teachings, by saying “forgiveness is necessary to remain in love, to remain Christian.” He visited another town hard hit by violence from ISIS, Qaraqosh, and signed a book of honor, writing, “From this church, destroyed and rebuilt, a symbol of hope of Qaraqosh and of all Iraq, I ask of God, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the gift of peace.”
The highlight of his trip was his pilgrimage to the city of Ur, home of the Patriarch Abraham. It was there that he called upon all the spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham to forge a better future rooted in peace and human fraternity.
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