The Iraqi Pope

The Iraqi Pope

Sunday 07 March 2021 221



Alaa Hadi Al-Hattab
What distinguishes the Pope’s visit to Iraq is that it will not be repeated, perhaps for hundreds of years to come, and it has not happened over the past years. That is, it is indeed an exceptional event that is not expected to occur in the future, so investing all the details and parts of the event in its media coverage, analyzing its contents, or studying its results will be important and accurate for those working in these spaces.

The evidence of the interest of the Iraqis as individuals, as well as political, cultural and social elites in this event is that they followed the moment of the departure of the plane carrying the Pope of the Vatican to Iraq and monitored its air path until it entered Iraqi lands and published this on their platforms first, which gives a clear indication that this people, even if they have passed through ordeals and circumstances. But it is a country of culture and history whose people know the value of their country and its civilizational depth, so they interacted from the first moment of the Pope’s journey with this important event that provided an opportunity for us all to breathe in the hope of being the focus of the world’s civilized and cultural care, and even the developed world, and we did not become among the countries and civilizations that emerged From the course of history, as the media intensification and the frustrating performances of the political, social, economic, security, and even cultural sectors left the perception that Iraq had become a "Kahn news", especially with the results of a series of questionnaires and local and international referendums that placed the country in late positions with its classifications, which left an impact. In the darkness of everything around us, until a large number of intellectuals predicted the collapse of the country.

Today this visit carries a very high symbolism, to the effect that a country whose roots and depth of civilization extend to thousands of years and is still the focus of attention and interest of the most ancient civilizations in the world cannot end or collapse overnight, so the media intensification and the darkness of life every time and when not It ends a country that the leader of the most nation in the world, the Pope of the Vatican, dreams of visiting and realizing this dream despite all the challenges, dangers, confusion and media education against it.

The state remains a great responsibility to exaggerate the interest in this cultural heritage and market it to the world, and through it, our country can become an important tourist destination for millions of people of the Christian faith, especially after the interest of their religious and spiritual leader in this geographical location and its religious and cultural dimension, which will encourage Christians to visit Ziggurat Ur and Beit Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH) and the churches and related sites in Baghdad, Nineveh, Erbil, and others, meaning that the state can turn this visit into a way to attract a new type of tourists to Iraq, and the great benefits that follow for the country.

Our responsibility as a cultural elite is to maximize the role of our civilization and our heritage, whether in its geographical locations or in its historical, religious and cultural dimension, and to enlist ourselves as messengers to the world for this in our writings, conversations, and our communication with the world, hoping that we will succeed in serving our country.



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Christians: The Pope's visit {a sign of hope}

Sunday 07 March 2021 178

Christians: The Pope's visit {a sign of hope}
Erbil: Khaled Ibrahim and Koller Ghaleb Al-Daoudi

Clergymen and Christian citizens in Kurdistan affirmed that the Pope's visit to Iraq is a positive sign to enhance security, brotherhood and peaceful coexistence between different religions, and a message to instill hope in Christians to stay and not emigrate.

The Director General of Christian Affairs in the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs in the Kurdistan Regional Government, Khaled Jamal Al-Bir, told Al-Sabah: “The Pope’s visit is historic and we have been waiting impatiently for a long time, and the dream has come true.”

He added, "The city of Erbil was the final stop of the visit, as the final ceremonies were held with prayers at Franso Hariri Stadium, in addition to the prayer of thanksgiving and the final mass, and this matter sent a special message to all Christians and the world."

And he indicated that "the arrangements and preparations for the Pope's visit to the region were made in a technical, modern and artistic manner with distinction, and the security authorities played a role in preserving the safety of the Pope and securing his wandering from the Nineveh Plain to the interior of Erbil."

He continued, "The Pope had a meeting with the President of the Region, the Prime Minister of Kurdistan and his deputy, and a number of religious figures, and after that he toured Mosul, where he had a meeting in a church called the Church, which is inhabited by UNESCO, as well as a stand with religious figures and Mosul families, and after that he went To Qaraqosh, and he was received there by His Beatitude Patriarch Mary Youssef Younan and the Syriac Catholic bishops, after which he made a tour inside Qaraqosh, and then went to the Al-Tahera Church and sent a message of love and peace to the people of the region who had suffered from the tyranny of ISIS terrorist gangs.

As for Father Savio Tawfiq Hamdouleh, a priest from the Chaldean diocese of Arbil, assistant pastor of the parish in the Mar Gorgis church in Ainkawa, he told Al-Sabah that “the visit had been awaited by the people for several years, and the popes who preceded Pope Francis had hoped and achieved it.”

He pointed out that "prior preparations have been made for the visit. The ecclesiastical choir presented hymns at the coming of His Holiness the Pope, and it consisted of 110 young men and 17 musicians. We, as the Chaldean Church of the East and also other sister churches, have a long heritage, which are special hymns in the Aramaic language spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as Hymns specific to our people and our land, and especially to our Church. They are historical hymns presented by Kurdish and Muslim musicians to show the world a message that we are one people, loving and adhering to its land, and there is no difference between religions. "

In turn, Mrs. Hadaf Muhannad, a chanter from within the choir group that participated in the ritual prayers and masses in front of the Pope of the Vatican, expressed her joy in participating in the prayers and hymns that were held at the Erbil International Stadium in the presence of a large and blessed gathering in wonderful ceremonies, and she felt really overjoyed at this visit. I consider it important in all respects.

She added that fraternal diversity was present among the musicians, as the musicians mixed with each other, Muslims and Christians, forming a bunch of people’s spectrum. As for the members of the choir group, they were not from one church but from several church families, and we adhered to all health procedures and instructions.

With regard to the outfit that was worn by the chanting groups, the spokeswoman explained that "a traditional costume, each according to his province, such as the Athurian, the Qushite, the Kurdish and other beautiful folkloric costumes, and the hymns were mixed and varied between Latin and Christian."

Christian citizen Rafik Hanna, a researcher, professor of psychology and president of the Ain Kawa Forum, expressed his happiness for this historical event, and spoke about the personality of the Pope and what distinguishes him from the rest of the previous popes and how these thousands of people who welcome him are welcomed by him, as he is the first sponsor of more than a billion Christians from All countries of the world, and he is the only pope among all popes, wears a cross of ordinary steel and not of gold, due to his modesty, in addition to his rejection of all manifestations of exaggeration appearing anywhere.

He mentioned that the Pope is a lover of humanity and carries the message of Christ, peace be upon him, through actions, not just words, and has great echoes in the world.

Rafiq pointed out that what is distinguished in the Pope’s visit to Iraq is to meet the great reference, Ali al-Sistani, and the visit to many countries and world opinion has strengthened confidence in Iraq after it was known to the countries of the world that it is a country of destruction, bombs and death. He stressed that the Pope's visit is an indication of Iraq's trend towards safety and a positive sign to promote cohesion, brotherhood and peaceful coexistence between different religions.

He noted that the Pope refused from all foreign security agencies to provide security assistance to preserve his safety, and told them that I am confident of the Iraqi government that invited me to visit Iraq to preserve my safety. He mentioned that the preparations for St. Joseph Church in Erbil, the clergy in Ain Kawa and the main church (the Chaldean Archdiocese of Erbil) included the appointment of hundreds of young people for preparations and supervision, most of them university students and worked by computer, electronic cards, and assigned to each participant a number when entering the stadium to attend the mass to maintain safety and take into consideration Corona theme mind. He added that the mass that was organized at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Erbil was the largest, as the number of participants reached (10) thousand, with the participation of a huge number of musicians to present hymns and church melodies related to the mass.




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