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The Pope’s Visit Rekindles Iraqi Pride
The scenes from Iraq for the Pope’s four-day visit are nothing short of remarkable. Iraqis refurbished churches that had been desecrated and destroyed during the occupation of parts of the country by ISIS; they stood on streets waving Iraqi flags to greet the pontiff and Iraq’s leaders were beaming as they hosted the Pope’s first trip since the Covid-19 pandemic began. It was a rare respite from the various kinds of violence and political agitation that have characterized news from this pivotal country for the past two decades.
The signs welcoming Pope Francis said, “Welcome to Mesopotamia,” signaling that Iraq is more than the modern nation-state created by colonial powers in 1932. It is the great civilization between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, birthplace to Abraham, recognized as the father of the three great monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Iraq is where the first system for writing, cuneiform, was created nearly 6,000 years ago, as well as many other historic firsts, such as the governance of cities and concepts of law, mathematics and science.
When it comes to religion in Iraq, most would think of the sectarian divide within the world of Islam, pitting Shia against Sunni. Sectarianism and the spasms of intercommunal violence that broke out after the fall of Saddam Hussein have continued to shape Iraqi politics and culture, with Shia militias supported by Iran and various Iraqi political factions preying on Sunnis and other minorities in the country, and Sunni extremists sometimes responding in kind.
But until this century, Iraq was one of the most religiously diverse countries in the Middle East. Some estimate that before the upheaval caused by the American invasion to oust Saddam, there were 1-1.5 million Christians in the country. That represented about six percent of the Iraqi population, half of the 12 percent estimated in 1948. Today’s Iraq has about a half million Christians, mostly adherents of seven different Syriac rites, plus Armenians, Roman Catholics and Byzantine Orthodox followers. They now represent only a bit more than one percent of the total population. Over half of Iraq’s Christians have left the country in the past 20 years, and most who remain now live in the Kurdish region in the north, meaning that many are internally displaced, having fled the Arab cities of the south. A few families are returning to Mosul, outside the Kurdish region, after the frantic flight from ISIS in 2014.
The scenes from Iraq for the Pope’s four-day visit are nothing short of remarkable. Iraqis refurbished churches that had been desecrated and destroyed during the occupation of parts of the country by ISIS; they stood on streets waving Iraqi flags to greet the pontiff and Iraq’s leaders were beaming as they hosted the Pope’s first trip since the Covid-19 pandemic began. It was a rare respite from the various kinds of violence and political agitation that have characterized news from this pivotal country for the past two decades.
The signs welcoming Pope Francis said, “Welcome to Mesopotamia,” signaling that Iraq is more than the modern nation-state created by colonial powers in 1932. It is the great civilization between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, birthplace to Abraham, recognized as the father of the three great monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Iraq is where the first system for writing, cuneiform, was created nearly 6,000 years ago, as well as many other historic firsts, such as the governance of cities and concepts of law, mathematics and science.
When it comes to religion in Iraq, most would think of the sectarian divide within the world of Islam, pitting Shia against Sunni. Sectarianism and the spasms of intercommunal violence that broke out after the fall of Saddam Hussein have continued to shape Iraqi politics and culture, with Shia militias supported by Iran and various Iraqi political factions preying on Sunnis and other minorities in the country, and Sunni extremists sometimes responding in kind.
But until this century, Iraq was one of the most religiously diverse countries in the Middle East. Some estimate that before the upheaval caused by the American invasion to oust Saddam, there were 1-1.5 million Christians in the country. That represented about six percent of the Iraqi population, half of the 12 percent estimated in 1948. Today’s Iraq has about a half million Christians, mostly adherents of seven different Syriac rites, plus Armenians, Roman Catholics and Byzantine Orthodox followers. They now represent only a bit more than one percent of the total population. Over half of Iraq’s Christians have left the country in the past 20 years, and most who remain now live in the Kurdish region in the north, meaning that many are internally displaced, having fled the Arab cities of the south. A few families are returning to Mosul, outside the Kurdish region, after the frantic flight from ISIS in 2014.
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