Lebanon, Syria and Iraq are three strongly related countries, and Pope Francesco’s visit to Iraq, happened during a pandemic, after the attack of January in Bagdad, where the authorship was taken by the State of Islam and where 32 people were killed.
The visit happened after the sudden bombings of the militias pro-Iran against the military bases near Bagdad, some days prior to the anniversary of Syria’s revolution and some days after the denouncement of the Maronite patriarch of Lebanon, Cardinal Beshara Rai, that warned on the fact the country is dealing with the threat of “ a coup against the Lebanese society”. The comments of the patriarch were seen as references of Hezbollah, sustained by Iran and the Party of President, Michel Aoun.
Pope Francesco’s visit started Friday the 5th of March and will end on Monday the 8th of March.
The Pope’s determination to do this visit is a proof of the visit’s spiritual and political purpose.
This is the first time the head of the Catholic Church steps in the land where according to the Bible, Abraham was born. The Pope John Paul II tried to make this visit in the year 2000, but he did not make it.
Pope Francesco himself wanted to make this visit in 2014, but when the State of Islam took Mosul and after Nineveh, where many Christians lived, the journey got cancelled from the agenda.
To understand the geopolitical importance of the region, it would be enough to look at an open map. Mesopotamia is the opening door to Europe.
Moscow, possesses its base in Syria, and through the harbor of Tartus controls the Middle East, Iran control Beirut through Hezbollah and Syria through Damascus and Latakia; in this region you pass from the strait of Hormuz to get to Persian Gulf.
Meanwhile, it is possible to go from Tehran through the Middle East to Palermo. Who is in control of the area, also controls the Euro-Asian block.
Iraq, Syria and Lebanon are also territories of oil corridors, desired by all the powerful players that want to reach Europe.
For this reason Pope Francesco went to Iraq, the epicenter of this global conflict, in which all world’s power (United States of America, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, United Kingdom, France) are present in the field of the battle between Syria and Iraq.
And it does not come as a spiritual emissary that embodies the West, but instead to build a bridge of peace.
He comes to the place where Sunnis, Shiites, Christians, Yazidis, Sabeans, Shabaks, Kurds and Arabs suffer. Where from 1 million and 400 thousand Christians in 2003, their number after the inter religions wars and after that of the State of Islam, went to 300 thousand.
This makes it obvious the global value of Iraq. The visit of the Pope bases on a motto: “you all are brothers”, according to Matthew 23,8.
The brotherhood will be symbolized by a service of joined prayers in the Uri’s ancient archeologic place, that is believed to be the birthplace of Abraham. In the ceremony will participate Yazidis, but with them also other religious minorities, Christian as well as Muslim. So the visit’s message is: Muslims and Christians both together for peace!
What could bring the few days visit of Pope Francesco in this context?
Francesco met the prime minister, Mustada Al-Kadhimi and President Barham Saleh.
It was not said that the Pope would have gone to Najaf to meet with Ayatollah al Sistani. But he chose this, when he could have chosen Bagdad.
Al Sistani is one of the biggest authorities of Shia’s world, that never bowed to the Khomeinist political Shiism of Iran. He has always been against the political sectarianism while considering Shia of Iraq mostly Iraqi.
And Pope Francesco decides to meet with al Sistani in Najaf, the historical and religious heart of the Shia, equivalent to Jerusalem for Christians.
Two years ago, Pope Francesco met with the great imam of al- Azhar’s mosque in Kajros, Sheik Ahmed al-Tayed, one of Sunnis’ primary clergy in the world, in an innovative call for an inter-religious commitment to human brotherhood.
He has met him on many occasions: In the Vatican, in Cairo, in Abu Dhabi, by ending a ten-year quarrel between the Holy See ant the University of al Azhar.
Fracesco’s visit to Najaf will be the peak of this journey. This creates the conditions for Islam to finally accept itself as a pluralistic religion, therefore ready to live and coexist in a pluralistic world.
From a geopolitical point of view the message is clear: Mesopotamia is a gateway which cannot be surrendered to any empire. Its history is the combination between civilizations and cultures.
Francesco’s visit was a challenge and a strength that has never seen before.
