QARAQOSH, Iraq (AP) – Pope Francis has called on Iraqi Christians to forgive and rebuild the injustices perpetrated by Muslim extremists while visiting the destroyed shells of churches and meeting ecstatic crowds in the historic heartland of the community, which has been almost wiped out Islamic State group’s gruesome rule.
At every stop in northern Iraq, the remnants of the Christian population dressed jubilantly, ululatingly, in colorful attire, though the great security prevented Francis from pouring into the crowd as he normally would. Nevertheless, they seem to be simply delighted that they have not been forgotten.
It was a sign of the desperation for support among an ancient community that was not sure if it could hold on. Traditionally, Christian villages that ended up on the Nineveh plains in the north were emptied when Christians – as well as many Muslims – fled the onslaught of the Islamic State in 2014. Only a few have returned to their homes since the declaration of IS defeat in Iraq four years ago, and the rest remain scattered elsewhere in Iraq or abroad.
Bells rang in the city of Qaraqosh when the pope arrived there. Francis said in a packed church of the Immaculate Conception that ‘forgiveness’ is a key word for Christians.
‘The road to full recovery may still be a long one, but I’m asking you not to get discouraged. What is needed is the ability to forgive, but also the courage not to give up. The Qaraqosh Church has been extensively refurbished after being vandalized by IS militants during their takeover of the city, making it a symbol of restoration efforts..
For the Vatican, the continued presence of Christians in Iraq is essential to keep religious communities that have existed here since the time of Christ alive. The population has declined from about 1.5 million before the US leadership in 2003 which plunged the country into chaos to just a few hundred thousand today.
Francis’ visit to Iraq, which was on his last day Sunday, was aimed at encouraging them to stay and help rebuild the country and what he calls his’ intricately designed carpet ‘of faith and ethnic groups.
In striking images earlier Sunday, Francis, dressed in white, took a stage on the red carpet on a square in the northern capital, Mosul, surrounded by the gray hollowed-out shells of four churches, which were nearly destroyed in the war for the To expel Islamic. State group from the city.
It was a scene that would have been unimaginable years before. Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, was the heart of the so-called “caliphate” of IS and witnessed the worst rule of the group inflicted on Muslims, Christians and others, including beheadings and massacres.
“How cruel it is that this land, the cradle of civilization, had to be hit by such a barbaric blow,” Francis said, “with ancient places of worship destroyed and thousands of people – Muslims, Christians, Yazidis – who were cruel destroyed by terrorism – and others are forcibly displaced or killed. ”
He deviated from his prepared speech to address the plight of Iraq’s Yazidi minority, who have been subjected to mass murder, kidnapping and sexual slavery in the wake of IS.
“Today, however, we reaffirm our conviction that brotherhood is more lasting than fratricide, that hope is more powerful than hatred, that peace is more powerful than war.”
The square where he spoke is home to four different churches – Syrian Catholics, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox and Chaldeans – each laid in rubble.
IS has perpetrated atrocities against all communities, including Muslims, during its three-year rule in much of northern and western Iraq. But the Christian minority was particularly hard hit. The militants forced them to choose between repentance, death or the payment of a special tax for non-Muslims. Thousands fled, leaving behind homes and churches destroyed or commandeered by extremists.
Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, has become IS’s bureaucratic and financial backbone. It was from Mosul’s al-Nuri mosque that the then IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only public appearance when he gave a sermon on Friday in which he called on all Muslims to follow him as a ‘caliph’.
According to an AP investigation at the time, it took a fierce nine-month battle to finally liberate the city, during which between 9,000 and 11,000 civilians were killed.. Al-Baghdadi was killed in a U.S. raid on Syria in 2019. The war has left a wave of destruction across Mosul and the north, and many Iraqis have been left on their own to rebuild amid a years-long financial crisis. .
Ds. Raed Kallo was one of the few Christians who returned to Mosul after IS was defeated. “My Muslim brothers received me with great hospitality and love after the liberation of the city,” he said on stage in front of the pope.
Before IS he had a congregation of 500 Christian family. Most have emigrated abroad, and now there are only 70 families left. “But today I live among 2 million Muslims who called me their Father,” he said.
Gutayba Aagha, the Muslim head of the Independent Social and Cultural Council for the Families of Mosul, urged other Christians to return.
“In the name of the council, I invite all our Christian brothers to return here, their city, their property and their affairs.”
During his four-day visit, Francis delivered a message of interfaith tolerance and brotherhood to Muslim leaders, including in a historic meeting Saturday with Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
At Qaraqosh, Francis urged his residents to keep dreaming and forgiving.
“Forgiveness is necessary to fall in love, to remain a Christian,” he said.
He was speaking after a Qaraqosh resident, Doha Sabah Abdallah, told him how her son and two other young people were killed during a mortar strike on August 6, 2014 when IS approached the city. Their death was the alarm for the rest of the inhabitants to flee.
“The martyrdom of these three angels was a clear warning: if it were not for them, the people of Baghdad would have remained and would inevitably fall into the hands of ISIS,” referring to the name of Qaraqosh used by residents is. “The death of three saved the whole city.”
She said it was now up to the survivors to ‘try to forgive the attacker’.
Before leaving Qaraqosh, the pope signs a book of honor and writes: ‘Of this church, destroyed and rebuilt, a symbol of the hope of Qaraqosh and all of Iraq, I ask God, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the gift of peace. ”
Francis concludes the day with a mass in the stadium in Irbil, in the semi-autonomous North Kurdish region, which is expected to draw as many as 10,000 people. He arrived in Irbil early Sunday, where he was greeted by children in traditional dress and one dressed as a pope.
Prior to the trip, public health experts expressed concern that large gatherings could serve as events for the coronavirus in a country suffering from a worse outbreak where few have been vaccinated.
The Vatican has said it is taking precautions, including keeping the fog outside in a stadium that will only be partially filled. But during the visit, crowds came close, and many people did not wear masks. The pope and members of his delegation were vaccinated, but most Iraqis were not.
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Kullab reported from Baghdad.