By Don Aguiar

Mumbai: In Pope Francis’ first papal visit to Iraq, it’s important to note that violence against Christians in the troubled country had started years earlier – shortly after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.

The insecurity that followed the power vacuum enabled extremist elements to form deadly groups – such as al-Qaida in Iraq – to target those that the Iraqi dictator, who had ruled as a secular leader, had been protecting.

Since 2003, Iraq has been in a state of insecurity that allows terrorist and insurgent groups, tribes and militia to express their intolerance and hatred towards religious and ethnic “others”. When the Islamic State took control of Mosul in the summer of 2014 and began its atrocities against civilians, the ground was already very fertile for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria to issue a decree that all Christians must either leave their homes, or be killed. Mass exodus followed, leaving Mosul almost without Christians, whose land and property fell into IS hands.

The choice was between genocide and ethnic cleansing. The vast majority chose the latter, and by October 2014 an estimated 1.8 million Christians and Yazidis had fled their homes according to the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq. Branding others as “apostates”, religious extremists have justified attacks such as abductions and executions against “others” who do not conform to its takfiri doctrine sanctioning violence against non-believers, as well as the destruction of places of religious significance.

Iraq in 2021 is a state still ruled by the fear of daily attacks by militia, terrorists and insurgents. Small numbers of individuals, operating in cells and groups, have consistently and deliberately targeted the unarmed population to spread fear and death. Insurgents have conducted attacks using guerrilla tactics designed to inflict ever-increasing losses on the government. Iraq also continues to witness a violent struggle, among state and non-state actors, for legitimacy and influence.

At present in Iraq, there are growing fears among Christians that the string of ancient Christian towns across northern Iraq are losing their traditional Christian character and that their faith is in danger of disappearing from the Muslim-majority country. A steady exodus of Christians that began after the U.S. invasion in 2003 has accelerated since the Islamic State was driven out of Iraq in 2017.

In these circumstances one can appreciate how badly Pope Francis wanted to be able to visit Iraq, something that’s been impossible for all popes since John Paul II had to cancel his planned trip in 1999. But was the trip absolutely necessary right now? What is the urgency?

Did Pope Francis have to get this done and over with before March 13, the eighth anniversary of his election as Bishop of Rome? Is that what this is about?

Pope Francis, in his historic visit to Iraq, has sought to lend support to Christians in the majority-Shia country, urged Iraqi leaders to protect all minority rights and sent a message that he himself is back on the global stage after a year cooped up behind the Vatican walls because of the pandemic.

“This blessed place brings us back to our origins,” Pope Francis said, surrounded by Christians, Muslims and members of Iraq’s many minorities. “We seem to have returned home.” He called for peace and love, and in doing so realized a dream harboured by John Paul II, who planned to visit Iraq himself, before tensions forced him to cancel more than 20 years ago.

Pope Francis in his first official speech, addressing Iraqi President Barham Salih, other government leaders and diplomats serving in Iraq at the Presidential Palace, called for solidarity and the need to rebuild well, so that all can enjoy a dignified life. “May there be an end to acts of violence and extremism, factions and intolerance! May room be made for all those citizens who seek to cooperate in building up this country through dialogue and through frank, sincere and constructive discussion.”

He tried to make the most of the moment, and said that “the greatest blasphemy” was the act of “hating our brothers and sisters.” “Hostility, extremism and violence are not born of a religious heart: They are betrayals of religion”. “We believers cannot be silent when terrorism abuses religion.” He also spoke of injustice and the dispossessed. “All too many people lack food, medicine, education, rights and dignity,” and denounced the trend to manipulate religion to suit the nefarious ethos of terrorism. “Our gathering here today shows that terrorism and death never have the last word.”

None of Pope Francis’s journeys have taken him as close to the site of the roots of monotheistic religions as the windswept plain in southern Iraq with the remains of a 4,000-year-old temple dedicated to a moon god. It was in Ur that the faithful believe God revealed himself to the Prophet Abraham, known since as the father of monotheistic religions.

It was here, last Saturday 6 March, that pope Francis made a pilgrimage in the footsteps of Abraham and spoke within sight of the ziggurat there, a stepped pyramid topped by a temple — the remains of the neo-Sumerian capital where tradition has it that Abraham was born. “Here where Abraham our father lived, we seem to have returned home,” and that God, who had promised a 100-year-old Abraham that he would have children, told the prophet to look up to the sky and count the stars. “In those stars he saw the promise of his descendants — he saw us,” surrounded by Muslim and Christian leaders and representatives of ancient religious minorities, the pope said.

Pope Francis visited the cities of Erbil, Mosul and Qaraqosh, where he renewed his call for fraternity, hope and peace. He then travelled to Mosul, where, in the midst of the devastation wrought by ISIS, he prayed for peace for victims of the war in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. At the Church of the Immaculate Conception, in the northern Iraqi town of Qaraosh, the Pope met with members of the local Christian population, urging them to rebuild their communities based on forgiveness and fraternity. He said in his homily, “Today I can see at first hand that the Church in Iraq is alive, and that Christ is alive and at work in this, His holy and faithful people.”

Since, everything went well and everyone returned to Rome safely, this 2021 papal visit to Iraq will be racked up as a monumental success. And, hopefully, that will open the door for greater international assistance, friendship and confidence for that badly battered country and its people.

Over the course of three days, the pope travelled across the country as no foreign head of state has done for years. He went to several different towns and cities in full view of all. The pope’s visit is a show of solidarity with the country’s remaining Christians, whose numbers have shrunk to less than one-third of the 1.5 million who lived there in Saddam Hussein’s time.

One thing is for sure, this Pope is showing the world what it means to put aside fear and take a risk on building peace and friendship. And, in these circumstances, it looked like a huge risk.