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Sunday, March 07, 2021 1:39:46 PM
In Pictures: Pope Francis in Iraq
As the pope makes a three-day trip to Iraq, a look at images of the historic moment.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/world/middleeast/pope-francis-iraq-pictures.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
By Marc Santora
Published March 5, 2021
Updated March 7, 2021, 8:06 a.m. ET
Pope John Paul II had to cancel plans to visit Iraq at the turn of this century as the country’s escalating tensions with the United States undermined negotiations with Saddam Hussein for a papal visit. Pope Benedict XVI had to cancel his plans because of security concerns.
And almost until the moment Pope Francis boarded the papal plane in Rome en route to Baghdad on Friday, the Vatican cautioned that his visit could be called off at any time.
Yet despite concerns about the coronavirus and a precarious security situation — with a military base in northern Iraq targeted by a missile strike two days before his scheduled departure — Francis held firm in his desire to visit the long-suffering and fading Christian community in the war-torn nation.
The pope has worn a mask in some places on the trip, but not in others. And people who had gathered closely together to see him have not always been masked.
Francis set an ambitious agenda taking him from the Plains of Nineveh to the northern region of Kurdistan, where his trip culminates on Sunday evening with an outdoor Mass for thousands at Franso Hariri soccer stadium in Erbil.
Sunday
After surveying the wreckage in Mosul — once a vibrant and diverse city that was flattened in the battle to wrest control back from the Islamic State — Pope Francis issued a powerful denunciation of fanaticism.
“How cruel it is that this country, the cradle of civilization, should have been afflicted by so barbarous a blow, with ancient places of worship destroyed,” he said. Thousands of Muslims, Christians and Yazidis, he said, “were cruelly annihilated by terrorism, and others forcibly displaced or killed.”
He also offered a prayer calling not only for the eternal peace of those who were killed, but for the repentance of their killers.
“To you we entrust all those whose span of earthly life was cut short by the violent hand of their brothers and sisters,” Francis said. “We also pray to you for those who caused such harm to their brothers and sisters. May they repent, touched by the power of your mercy.”
Saturday
On the second day of his whirlwind tour of Iraq, Francis sought to use the shared history of Jews, Christians and Muslims to strengthen his call for unity and condemnation of violence.
He began his day by visiting Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the spiritual leader of Iraq’s Shiite Muslims. The two men sat in a sparsely furnished room and discussed the role that spiritual leaders should play in a tumultuous world.
Neither was pictured wearing a mask. Francis is vaccinated. Ayatollah Sistani is not. His office said he believes vaccination is religiously permitted but he did not want to jump in front of others.
Francis then flew from the holy city of Najaf, where the cleric has his offices, to the ancient remains of the once great city of Ur.
It is the traditional birthplace of the prophet Abraham, who is revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. That common bond, the pope said, should serve as inspiration in a world that too often finds itself divided.
The two elders — Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, 90, and Pope Francis, 84, each the highest religious authority among their followers — sat across from each other on simple wooden seats in the ayatollah’s modest home.
In Mosul, an aerial photograph shows the preparations at the ruins of the Syriac Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception in anticipation for the pope’s visit.
Friday
The pope, in his first foreign trip since the outbreak of the pandemic more than a year ago, arrived in Baghdad on Friday afternoon to become the first leader of the Roman Catholic Church to ever visit the country.
It was a day rich in symbolism but also fraught with risk. Security was stepped up in all the places the pope was scheduled to travel and the capital, Baghdad, was completely locked down.
In one of the more emotionally moving events of the day, Francis visited a church that was the site of a massacre in 2010, an event that spurred the exodus of Christians from the country.
More than one million Christians have fled since the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. There are now an estimated 500,000.
As the pope makes a three-day trip to Iraq, a look at images of the historic moment.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/world/middleeast/pope-francis-iraq-pictures.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
By Marc Santora
Published March 5, 2021
Updated March 7, 2021, 8:06 a.m. ET
Pope John Paul II had to cancel plans to visit Iraq at the turn of this century as the country’s escalating tensions with the United States undermined negotiations with Saddam Hussein for a papal visit. Pope Benedict XVI had to cancel his plans because of security concerns.
And almost until the moment Pope Francis boarded the papal plane in Rome en route to Baghdad on Friday, the Vatican cautioned that his visit could be called off at any time.
Yet despite concerns about the coronavirus and a precarious security situation — with a military base in northern Iraq targeted by a missile strike two days before his scheduled departure — Francis held firm in his desire to visit the long-suffering and fading Christian community in the war-torn nation.
The pope has worn a mask in some places on the trip, but not in others. And people who had gathered closely together to see him have not always been masked.
Francis set an ambitious agenda taking him from the Plains of Nineveh to the northern region of Kurdistan, where his trip culminates on Sunday evening with an outdoor Mass for thousands at Franso Hariri soccer stadium in Erbil.
Sunday
After surveying the wreckage in Mosul — once a vibrant and diverse city that was flattened in the battle to wrest control back from the Islamic State — Pope Francis issued a powerful denunciation of fanaticism.
“How cruel it is that this country, the cradle of civilization, should have been afflicted by so barbarous a blow, with ancient places of worship destroyed,” he said. Thousands of Muslims, Christians and Yazidis, he said, “were cruelly annihilated by terrorism, and others forcibly displaced or killed.”
He also offered a prayer calling not only for the eternal peace of those who were killed, but for the repentance of their killers.
“To you we entrust all those whose span of earthly life was cut short by the violent hand of their brothers and sisters,” Francis said. “We also pray to you for those who caused such harm to their brothers and sisters. May they repent, touched by the power of your mercy.”
Saturday
On the second day of his whirlwind tour of Iraq, Francis sought to use the shared history of Jews, Christians and Muslims to strengthen his call for unity and condemnation of violence.
He began his day by visiting Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the spiritual leader of Iraq’s Shiite Muslims. The two men sat in a sparsely furnished room and discussed the role that spiritual leaders should play in a tumultuous world.
Neither was pictured wearing a mask. Francis is vaccinated. Ayatollah Sistani is not. His office said he believes vaccination is religiously permitted but he did not want to jump in front of others.
Francis then flew from the holy city of Najaf, where the cleric has his offices, to the ancient remains of the once great city of Ur.
It is the traditional birthplace of the prophet Abraham, who is revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. That common bond, the pope said, should serve as inspiration in a world that too often finds itself divided.
The two elders — Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, 90, and Pope Francis, 84, each the highest religious authority among their followers — sat across from each other on simple wooden seats in the ayatollah’s modest home.
In Mosul, an aerial photograph shows the preparations at the ruins of the Syriac Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception in anticipation for the pope’s visit.
Friday
The pope, in his first foreign trip since the outbreak of the pandemic more than a year ago, arrived in Baghdad on Friday afternoon to become the first leader of the Roman Catholic Church to ever visit the country.
It was a day rich in symbolism but also fraught with risk. Security was stepped up in all the places the pope was scheduled to travel and the capital, Baghdad, was completely locked down.
In one of the more emotionally moving events of the day, Francis visited a church that was the site of a massacre in 2010, an event that spurred the exodus of Christians from the country.
More than one million Christians have fled since the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. There are now an estimated 500,000.
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