The Pope's visit to Iraq and its future implications

Seema Ali Mahdi

Iraq is distinguished from the rest of the peoples of the Arab region in that it is a mosaic of many races and religions, and these religious and ethnic structures and colors gave it a historical advantage. But the question remains, how much did the Iraqi benefit from this cultural diversity, and whether this diversity served Iraq or harmed it..? The conflict is still raging, and the land of Iraq is the arena for the battle. Whoever controls the necks of the Iraqis, none of them worked to rid Iraq and cultivate the spirit of patriotism and its dominance over religious and national subordination. Iraqi Christians are the original inhabitants of this country before the Islamic conquest. Like Christians in the Arab world, and since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the number of Christians has decreased by 83 percent, from about 1.5 million to 250,000 only formally. The Iraqi constitution preserves equal rights for all citizens, regardless of their religions and nationalities. Politically, the Iraqi constitution guarantees five parliamentary seats for Iraqi Christians, as a peremptory quota, with an average of one seat in each of the governorates of Baghdad, Mosul, Duhok, Erbil, and Kirkuk. But the fact of the matter is that the major political forces in Iraq, who are not Christians, were able to fabricate Christian candidates loyal to them, to defend the interests of those political forces, and not the interests and rights of Iraqi Christians.

The importance of the Pope's visit to Iraq

Considering that the papacy is the oldest official institution in the world and is the supreme authority at the head of the Catholic Church  , the visit of Pope Francis (Francis) () to Iraq on 3/5/2021 is one of the important visits at all levels. On the political level, it gave a message to the world that Iraq 2021 is different from Iraq 2003 or before. On the economic level, the visit may contribute to stimulating tourism, especially in the archaeological areas that the Pope visited and made it a lofty goal, calling it the pilgrimage to the birthplace of the father of the prophets, the Prophet of God Ibrahim (peace be upon him), and on the social level, the visit may contribute to Societal cohesion among all members of Iraqi society regardless of their religious diversity, and on the cultural level may encourage many interested in the study of antiquities for the purpose of excavations in the city of Ur and the statement of many facts about this neglected archaeological city.

Why Ziggurat of Ur?

The importance and sanctity of this ancient city lies in the fact that it is the cradle of human civilization and includes the “House of the Prophet Abraham Al-Khalil,” which was mentioned in Chapter 11 of the Book of Genesis in the Bible   Likewise, in Christianity, Paul the Apostle mentions that Abraham’s faith in God made him the first model for all believers, circumcised and uncircumcised. As for Judaism, the city of Ur was mentioned in the Old Testament book (Torah) under the name (Ur of the Chaldeans), as it is the home of the father of the prophets, Abraham (Abraham), peace be upon him, who grew up there before migrating with his family from it . The foothold of the first Jewish groups during the establishment of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar was the captivity of the Jews and brought them to the city of Babylon, where he brought with him some messengers, leaders and senior people, and with them the Prophet of God Ezekiel (Dhu al-Kifl), whose shrine is located north of the city of Babylon. Basra, where the shrine of the Prophet Uzair, one of the prophets of the Jewish community. If Mecca is the Kaaba of the Muslims without the rest of the nations, then the city of Ur is the Kaaba of the Jews and Christ, and if the Messenger Muhammad (may God bless him and his family and grant him peace) is the prophet of the Arabs and Muslims, then the Prophet of God Abraham is the master of the prophets And the messengers, and when he traveled from the city of Ur towards the Arabian Peninsula, God Almighty commanded him to build the Kaaba

بقوله تعالى:ý إِنَّ أَوَّلَ بَيْتٍ وُضِعَ لِلنَّاسِ لَلَّذِي بِبَكَّةَ مُبَارَكًا وَهُدًى لِلْعَالَمِينَ ۝ فِيهِ آيَاتٌ بَيِّنَاتٌ مَقَامُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمَنْ دَخَلَهُ كَانَ آمِنًا وَلِلَّهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلًا وَمَنْ كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنِ الْعَالَمِينَí [آل عمران:96- 97].

The visit of the Pope of the Vatican, the Shiite cleric (Ali al-Sistani)

The author of the book "Finding Jesus Among Muslims" explains that Pope Francis met Islamic personalities around the world, from Bangladesh, through the Central African Republic, to Italy. “His visit to Sistani means that he has finally met the supreme authority of Shiite Islam, after he had previously met the supreme authority of Sunni Islam (Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al-Tayyib)”  .

As for his visit to Iraq, after the Pope met the leaders of the Catholic sects on Friday 3/5/2021 in Baghdad, he then went on Saturday morning to meet the supreme Iraqi Shiite cleric (Ali al-Sistani) in Najaf, who rarely appears in public, and who is considered one of the most influential personalities. In the modern history of Iraq, at the political, religious and social levels. It is true that he was born in the Iranian city of Mashhad in 1930 and that he has not renounced his Iranian nationality yet, but many see him as a vivid representation of "the originality of Shiite Islam in its Iraqi part". The meeting lasted an hour, as they sat alone, except for the interpreters, at Sistani's house in the city of Najaf. According to what was confirmed by Al-Sistani's office, the Pope and the Shiite cleric discussed the challenges facing humanity in this era. During the meeting, the Shiite cleric talked about the suffering of many people in different countries of "injustice, oppression, poverty, religious and intellectual persecution, and suppression of freedoms, especially the Palestinian people in the occupied territories". The visit is not devoid of being symbolic between two similar personalities (both of whom have a great spirituality but are humble, as the Shiite religious authority lives in a small house in Najaf, while the Pope of the Vatican lives in an apartment in Santa Marta). After his meeting with Al-Sistani, the Pope went to Dhi Qar Governorate, in southern Iraq, and the Pope held a "prayer for religions" in the historic ancient city of Ur, which is considered the birthplace of the Prophet of God, Abraham, peace and blessings be upon him. Representatives of the three monotheistic religions, in addition to the various sects and sects in Iraq, participated in the prayer. Pope Francis called for prayer for the respect of freedom of conscience and religious freedom, denounced terrorism that offends religion, and called for work to prevent the exploitation of religion as a cover for terrorism.

Allegiance monsters and the Pope's visit

After the arrival of Pope Francis Erbil, on Sunday, he met with the President of the Kurdistan Region, (Nechirvan Barzani) and a group of leaders of the region, including the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (Massoud Barzani), and expressed his appreciation for embracing the displaced Christians from Mosul, the Nineveh Plain, Qaraqosh, and the displaced from other components, saying: "Though you are at war, you have extended a hand of sympathy to all, so pray for me as well." And he went on to say: Thank you for what you are doing and exerting for all religions and all components  . Then he went to Mosul and during his visit to it, the Pope stopped at the "Hosh Al-Bay'a ()" square to pray in it before moving to the Great Immaculate Church () in Qaraqosh. However, what raises the question is that despite the passage of more than 4 years since the liberation of the city of Mosul, the effects of the war are still visible in it, and it did not witness the reconstruction promised by the Iraqi government, or the United States and the rest of the member states within the international coalition after the city was liberated at the end of 2017! .

In the end, in the world of politics, all opportunities are supposed to be invested and employed in a way that serves the public interest, and therefore all positive points must be translated in a way that serves Iraq, otherwise the visit will become a protocol procedure between two countries (Vatican - Iraq), it must be emphasized that the important thing is not the visit As important as after the visit, therefore, Iraq today is required to invest this visit and work hard in order to invest any opportunity that results from it, and the procedures must cooperate in implementing all legislative, executive and judicial institutions, each according to its function, in addition to the need for the participation of civil society institutions as a link between society and power. Despite the problems raised by the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq with Turkey when a postal stamp appeared during a reception of Pope Francis a few days ago, which shows a map of "Greater Kurdistan" with a picture of the Pope. As a result, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press statement, in which it said: "Some leaders of the Kurdish region administration in Iraq, who go beyond their borders, are trying to use this visit to reveal their empty dreams about the territorial integrity of Iraq's neighboring countries, which also include some cities in Turkey." In addition, after the Vatican issued a medal for Pope Francis' trip to Iraq, it contains the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and a palm tree, symbolizing Ibrahim "peace be upon him" as he left the Sumerian city of Ur in which he was born, according to historical accounts. Israeli websites in the Arabic language tried to explain this medallion in another way, since the design of the palm tree has its roots in Iraq and its dates in Iran!!!!. There were many interpretations about the visit, but what matters in that is its exploitation for the benefit of Iraq, nothing more.