For Iraqi Christians, Pope Francis’ visit was a rare moment of hope

BAGHDAD AP The death of Pope Francis has sent shockwaves through Iraq s Christian group where his presence once brought hope after one of the darkest chapters in the country s newest history His visit to Iraq the first ever by a pope came after years of conflict and displacement Just a scarce years before that a great number of Iraqi Christians had fled their homes as Islamic State militants swept across the country Christian communities in Iraq once numbering over a million had already been reduced to a fraction of their former number by decades of conflict and mass emigration In Mosul the site of particular of the fiercest battles between Iraqi measure forces and the Islamic State Chaldean Archbishop Najeeb Moussa Michaeel recalled the pope s visit to the battle-scarred city at a time when multiple visitors were still afraid to come as a moment of elation like a wedding for the people of Mosul He broke this barrier and stood firm in the devastated city of Mosul proclaiming a message of love brotherhood and peaceful coexistence Michaeel stated As Francis delivered a speech in the city s al-Midan area which had been almost comprehensively reduced to rubble the archbishop explained he saw tears falling from the pope s eyes Sa dullah Rassam who was among the Christians who fled from Mosul in in the face of the IS offensive was also crying as he watched the pope leave the church in Midan that day Rassam had spent years displaced in Irbil the seat of northern Iraq s semiautonomous Kurdish region but was among the first Christians to return to Mosul where he lives in a small house next to the church that Francis had visited As the pope s convoy was leaving the church Rassam stood outside watching tears streaming down his face Suddenly the car stopped and Francis got out to greet him It was the best day of my life Rassam revealed The pope s visit made us feel loved and heard and it helped heal our wounds after everything that happened here he disclosed The visit also helped to spur a drive to rebuild the city s destroyed sites including both Muslim and Christian places of worship After the wide international media coverage of his visit plenty of parties began to invest again in the city Currently Mosul is beginning to rise again Michaeel noted You can see our heritage reappear in the sculptures the churches and the streets Building ties across communities Chaldean Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako explained The Associated Press that Francis had built strong relationships with the Eastern rite churches which are often forgotten by their Latin rite counterparts and with Muslim communities The patriarch recalled urging Francis early in his papacy to highlight the importance of Muslim-Christian coexistence After the pope s inaugural speech in which he thanked representatives of the Jewish society for their presence Sako commented I questioned him Why didn t you mention Muslims He noted The next morning I will speak about Muslims and indeed he did issue a announcement the next day Francis went on to take concrete policies to strengthen relationships between Christians and Muslims through visits to Muslim-majority countries including Egypt the United Arab Emirates Bahrain and Jordan as well as Iraq Sako reported He brought Muslims and Christians together around shared values His three-day visit to Iraq changed Iraq s face it opened Iraq to the outside world Sako commented while the people loved him for his simplicity and sincerity The patriarch disclosed that three months before the pope s death he had given him a gift of dates from Iraq and Francis responded that he would never forget Iraq and that it was in his heart and in his prayers During his visit to Iraq Francis held a historic meeting with the country s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani at the latter s home in Najaf Sistani s office in a message Monday expressed deep sorrow at the pope s death saying he was greatly respected by all for his distinguished role in serving the causes of peace and tolerance and for expressing solidarity with the oppressed and persecuted across the globe The meeting between the two religious leaders had helped to promote a society of peaceful coexistence reject violence and hatred and uphold values of harmony based on safeguarding rights and mutual respect among followers of different religions and intellectual traditions it commented Our favorite pope In Irbil Marvel Rassam recalled joining the crowds who packed into a stadium to catch a glimpse of the pope The visit brought a sense of unity Rassam announced as everyone attended to see him and not only the Catholics He was our favorite pope not only because he was the first to visit Iraq but he was also very special and unique for his humility and inclusivity he reported At St Joseph Chaldean Cathedral in Baghdad where Francis led a Mass during his visit church pastor Nadhir Dako revealed the pope s visit had carried special weight because it came at a time when Christians in Iraq were still processing the trauma of the IS attacks We the Christians were in very complicated situation There was frustration due to the forcible migration and the killing that occurred Dako disclosed The visit by the pope created a sort of determination for all Iraqis to promotion their Christian brothers - Martany published from Irbil Iraq Source