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By NICOLE WINFIELD and SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press
ROME — Pope Francis will meet with Iraq’s top Shiite Muslim cleric, Ali al-Sistani, during a trip next month that will also include a pilgrimage to ancient Christian communities that were emptied and devastated in battles with the Islamic State group. Continue reading
This is a logo from the Chaldean Patriarchate of Baghdad for Pope Francis’ planned March 5-8 trip to Iraq. (CNS photo/Chaldean Patriarchate of Baghdad)
By Cindy Wooden • Catholic News Service • Continue reading
Archbishop Dr. Yousif Thomas MIRKIS
Welcome to our hearts before you set foot in the holy land of Iraq, where, has been written, half of the books of the Old Testament. These and many other texts are considered sacred by millions. Before you come to us, you engrave your captivating Continue reading
Iraq (International Christian Concern) – More than a year ago in October 2019, one of Iraq’s largest protests reached its peak. Now, as Iraq looks to its next elections in October 2021, new parties emerge and Christians call for prayer for the country. Continue reading
The Rev. Karam Quasha, a parish priest in northern Iraq, says Francis can mend the ‘broken trust’ between the country’s ancient faiths.
Iraqi Christians pray at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, damaged by Islamic State fighters during their occupation of Qaraqosh, east of Mosul, Iraq, on Nov. 12, Continue reading
Pope Francis will meet with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani during his trip to Iraq, a cardinal said on Thursday, Jan 28. By Courtney Mares Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, the patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, told AFP on Jan. 28 that the pope will have a private meeting with the top Shiite cleric in Iraq during the visit scheduled for March 5-8. Continue reading
Cardinal Parolin addresses financial scandals, China and Iraq in new interview
The cardinal, who is the secretary of state at the Vatican, said the world is undergoing massive crises that underline the need to come together in solidarity and dialogue.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin in a recent interview with French Catholic TV network KTO. Continue reading
By Catholic News Service –
A poster of Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, is seen on a high-rise building during anti-government protests in Baghdad in this 9 February, 2020, file photo. Cardinal Louis Sako, the Baghdad-based patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Continue reading
World & Vatican
A man who was wounded during a twin suicide bombing attack in a central Baghdad market receives treatment at a hospital in Baghdad Jan. 21, 2021. Cardinal Louis Sako, the Baghdad-based patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, said Iraqis are still counting on Pope Francis to visit in March. (CNS photo/Wissam al-Okaili, Reuters) Continue reading
A Syrian woman walks in a camp in Idlib province (AFP or licensors)
Church leaders in the Middle East renew their appeal to the United States to lift economic sanctions imposed on Syria, anticipating an unprecedented humanitarian disaster in the war-torn nation, which is grappling with a worsening economic crisis Continue reading
Iraqi Christians attend Christmas Eve Mass in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in 2019. (AFP or licensors)
Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphaël Sako has composed a prayer that the churches across Iraq will recite from Sunday, 17 January, in preparation for the visit of Pope Continue reading
By Jackson Elliott, Christian Post
A man waves Turkey’s national flag during the Democracy and Martyrs Rally, organized by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, November 12, 2016. | (Photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas) Continue reading
Marwan IBRAHIM | AFP John Burger
Pontiff raises possibility that trip may be canceled, depending on the COVID-19 pandemic.
In December, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis will make an apostolic visit to Continue reading
BY LEAH NABLO YECLA(Photo : Verity Cridland/Flickr/CC) US pastor Andrew Brunson was jailed in Turkey for ‘terrorism-related’ offenses.
Turkish authorities stopped the investigations regarding the kidnapping of two elderly Christians for an unknown reason, reports say. Continue reading
IRAQI CATHOLICS URGED TO PRAY AT SUNDAY MASSES THAT POPE FRANCIS WILL BE ABLE TO VISIT COUNTRY
Catholic News Agency /
(CNA).- A cardinal has called on Iraqi Catholics to pray at Sunday Masses that Pope Francis will be able to visit their country in March.
Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, issued the prayer on Jan. 14 amid uncertainty about whether the papal trip will take place as planned.
The cardinal invited Iraq’s Catholics to recite the following prayer from Sunday, Jan. 17: “Lord our God, grant Pope Francis health and safety to carry out successfully this eagerly awaited visit.”
“Bless his effort to promote dialogue, enhance fraternal reconciliation, build confidence, consolidate peace values and human dignity, especially for us Iraqis who have been through painful ‘events’ that affected our lives.”
“Please our Lord and Creator, enlighten our hearts with Your light, to recognize goodness and peace, and to realize them.”
“Mother Mary, we entrust Pope Francis’ visit to your maternal care so that the Lord may grant us the grace of living in a complete national communion, and cooperate fraternally to build a better future for our country and our citizens. Amen.”
The Chaldean Catholic Church is one of the 23 autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the pope. It is one of the main Christian communities in Iraq, alongside Syriac, Armenian, Assyrian, and Arab Christians.
In a television interview on Sunday, Pope Francis expressed doubt about whether he would be able to visit the war-torn Middle Eastern country.
He noted that he had canceled two international trips in 2020 — to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea — “because in conscience I cannot cause gatherings, can I?”
He added: “Now I don’t know if the next trip to Iraq will take place.”
Local organizers released the logo and motto of the papal visit to Iraq on Jan. 13.
The logo for the trip depicts Pope Francis in front of an outline of Iraq, with the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and a palm tree. There is also a dove carrying an olive branch flying over the Vatican and Iraqi flags.
The motto — “You are all brothers,” taken from Matthew 23:8 — is written above in Arabic, Chaldean, and Kurdish.
The Vatican announced in December that the pope’s March 5-8 trip would include stops in Baghdad, Erbil, and Mosul.
Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, has expressed the hope that the pope will also visit Najaf, a city in central Iraq considered one of the centers of spiritual and political power for Shia Islam.
During a panel discussion on religious liberty in July 2019, Sako proposed that the Church sign a document like the Abu Dhabi document on human fraternity with Shiite leaders in Najaf.
The original peace declaration was signed by Pope Francis and a Sunni Muslim leader, Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of al-Azhar, in the United Arab Emirates in February 2019.
If the voyage takes place as planned, Francis will be the first pope to visit Iraq, which is still recovering from the devastation inflicted by the Islamic State.
Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil told Aid to the Church in Need in 2019 that Christianity in Iraq was “perilously close to extinction.”
“In the years prior to 2003, we numbered as many as 1.5 million — 6% of Iraq’s population,” the Chaldean archbishop said.
“Today, there are perhaps as few as 250,000 of us left. Maybe less. Those of us who remain must be ready to face martyrdom.”
Iraqi Catholics urged to pray at Sunday Masses that Pope Francis will be able to visit country
The Vatican has confirmed Pope Francis will visit Iraq March 5-8 Christians go to the Mass for the feast of St. Levo in the Chaldean village of Levo, Iraq. (Photo: Catholics and Cultures, Sandrine Alexie)
Chaldean Catholics in Iraq are praying that Pope Francis really will be able to visit their Continue reading
The official logo of Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq / Saint-Adday
By Hannah Brockhaus
Rome Newsroom, Jan 13, 2021 / 12:00 pm MT (CNA).- More information has been released about the papal visit to Iraq, as Pope Francis expressed doubt this week about Continue reading
The persecution of Christians around the world has grown, both numerically and in its intensity, in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is according to figures released in the 2021 World Watch List (WWL). Continue reading
The apostolic journey is a source of “great support” for all minorities after the suffering of Daesh. But Francis is also coming for Sunnis and Shiites, who hope in a visit to Najaf and a meeting with al-Sistani. An event that also marks a new season for the country. The Chaldean patriarchy presents the official logo and slogan. Continue reading
The Faravahar is arguably the best-known symbol of the Persian Zoroastrian faith. This symbol consists of a winged disc with a man emerging from it. The man is shown holding a ring. Whilst the symbol is well known, the meaning behind it is more complicated. The Faravahar was adopted as a secular symbol to represent the modern nation of Iran. Continue reading