QARAQOSH, Iraq (AP) – Pope Francis called on Iraqi Christians to forgive and rebuild the injustice Muslim extremists have committed against them as he visited the destroyed shells of churches and met ecstatic crowds in the historic heart of the community, which almost was obliterated by the Islamic State Group’s Gruesome Reign.
At every stop in Northern Iraq, the remains of the Christian population appeared cheering, cheering, decked out in colorful clothing, though heavy security kept Francis from throwing himself into the crowd as he normally would. Nevertheless, they seemed simply overjoyed that they had not been forgotten.
It was a sign of the desperation for support among an old community that was unsure whether it could last. Traditionally, Christian cities in the Nineveh Plains to the north were emptied as Christians – as well as many Muslims – fled the attack by the Islamic State group in 2014. Only a few have returned to their homes since IS’s defeat in Iraq stated four years ago: and the rest remain scattered elsewhere in Iraq or abroad.
The bells rang in the city of Qaraqosh when the Pope arrived. Speaking to a packed Church of the Immaculate Conception, Francis said that “forgiveness” is a key word for Christians.
“The road to full recovery may still be long, but I ask you not to get discouraged. What is needed is the ability to forgive, but also the courage not to give up. Qaraqosh Church has been extensively renovated after demolitions by IS militants during their takeover of the city, making it a symbol of recovery efforts
For the Vatican, the continued presence of Christians in Iraq is essential to keep alive the communities of faith that have existed here since the time of Christ. The population has shrunk from about 1.5 million before the US-led invasion in 2003 that plunged the country into chaos to just a few hundred thousand today.
Francis’ visit to Iraq, on his last Sunday, was to encourage them to stay and help rebuild the country and restore what he called his “intricately designed tapestry” of faith and ethnicities.
In striking footage earlier Sunday, Francis, dressed in white, went to a red carpet podium in a square in the north’s capital, Mosul, surrounded by the gray hollowed-out shells of four churches, nearly destroyed in the war for the Islamic world to expel. State group from the city.
It was a scene that would have been unimaginable years before. Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, was at the heart of the so-called “caliphate” of IS and witnessed the group’s worst rule among Muslims, Christians and others, including beheadings and mass murders.
“How cruel it is that this country, the cradle of civilization, should have suffered such a barbaric battle,” said Francis, “with the destruction of ancient houses of worship and many thousands of people – Muslims, Christians, Yazidis – who had been cruelly destroyed. Forcibly displaced or murdered by terrorism – and others. ”
He deviated from his prepared speech to address the plight of the Yazidi minority in Iraq, which was subject to mass killings, kidnappings and sexual slavery by IS.
“Today, however, we reaffirm our belief that fraternity is more sustainable than fratricide, that hope is stronger than hate, that peace is stronger than war.”
In the square where he spoke are four different churches – Syrian Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, and Chaldean – each left in ruins.
ISIS has committed atrocities against all communities, including Muslims, during its three-year rule in much of northern and western Iraq. But especially the Christian minority was hit hard. The militants forced them to choose between conversion, death, or paying a special tax for non-Muslims. Thousands fled, leaving behind homes and churches that had been destroyed or claimed by the extremists.
Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, became ISIS ‘bureaucratic and financial backbone. It was from Mosul’s al-Nuri mosque that then IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only public appearance when he delivered a sermon on Friday calling on all Muslims to follow him as ‘caliph’.
It took a fierce nine-month battle to finally liberate the city in July 2017, killing between 9,000 and 11,000 civilians, according to an AP investigation at the time.Al-Baghdadi was killed in a US raid on Syria in 2019. The war has left a trail of devastation in Mosul and the north, and many Iraqis have been left to rebuild amid years of financial crisis.
Reverend Raed Kallo was one of the few Christians to return to Mosul after ISIS was defeated. “My Muslim brothers received me with great hospitality and love after the liberation of the city,” he said on the podium before the Pope.
Before ISIS, he had a parish of 500 Christian families. Most emigrated abroad, and now there are only 70 families left, he said. “But today I live among 2 million Muslims who call me their father Raed,” he said.
Gutayba Aagha, the Muslim head of the Independent Social and Cultural Council for the Families of Mosul, encouraged other Christians to return.
“In the name of the council, I invite all our Christian brothers and sisters to return to this city, their city, their properties, and their businesses.”
During his four-day visit, Francis conveyed a message of interfaith tolerance and fraternity to Muslim leaders, including during a historic Saturday meeting with Iraq’s highest-ranking Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
In Qaraqosh, Francis urged its inhabitants to keep dreaming and forgive.
“Forgiveness is necessary to stay in love, to remain a Christian,” he said.
He spoke after a resident of Qaraqosh, Doha Sabah Abdallah, told him how her son and two other young people were killed in a mortar attack on August 6, 2014, as ISIS approached the city. Their deaths were the alarm for the rest of the residents to flee.
“The martyrdom of these three angels was a clear warning: had it not been for them, the people of Baghdede would have remained and inevitably fell into the hands of IS,” referring to the name of Qaraqosh used by the residents. “The death of three saved the whole city.”
She said it was now up to the survivors to “forgive the aggressor.”
Before leaving Qaraqosh, the Pope signed a book of honor, in which he wrote: ‘From this church, destroyed and rebuilt, a symbol of the hope of Qaraqosh and of all Iraq, I ask God, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the gift of peace. “
Francis closes the day with a mass at the stadium in Irbil, in the semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, which is expected to attract as many as 10,000 people. He arrived in Irbil early Sunday, where he was greeted by children in traditional dress and equipped as a pope.
Public health experts had raised concerns prior to the trip that large gatherings could serve as superspreader events for the coronavirus in a country suffering from an increasingly worsening outbreak where few have been vaccinated.
The Vatican has said it is taking precautions, including keeping Mass out in a stadium that will only be partially filled. But during the visit, crowds have gathered in the neighborhood, with many people not wearing masks. The Pope and members of his delegation have been vaccinated, but most Iraqis are not.
Kullab reported from Baghdad.