Pope Francis' Mission In Iraq: Save Catholics From Extinction

JAKARTA - Pope Francis has landed in Iraq on Friday, March 5. This is Pope Francis' first overseas trip since the COVID-19 pandemic. More broadly, it will be a pope's first visit to Iraq. What can be known so far?

According to the agenda, Pope Francis will stay for four days. He will focus the visit on holding meetings with the Catholic community in Iraq. In that country, the Catholic community is shrinking.

Quoted by The New York Times, Pope Francis 'visit was decided after Iraqi President Barham Salih sent an invitation in July 2019. Barham Salih hopes that Pope Francis' visit can heal Iraq's wounds that have been torn by war for years.

Pope Francis accepted the invitation. Of course, he did not want to disappoint the Iraqi people, especially the Christian community in that country.

Apart from visiting the Catholic community in Iraq, Pope Francis will also have dialogues with interfaith leaders. Pope Francis is also scheduled to meet with prominent Shia Clerics in Iraq, pray in Mosul, and hold a mass at a stadium that was not specified.

First pope visit

Before Pope Francis, the Iraqi government had also sent true invitations to several other popes. Pope Benedict also received an invitation, although it was later forced to cancel because of the war.

In 1999, Pope John Paul also planned to visit Iraq. The plan was canceled because of negotiations between the Vatican and the government of President Saddam Hussein in deadlock.

Then, in 2000, Pope John Paul II came back with the plan. However, the plan failed again. This time the reason was the war in Iraq.

For Pope Francis, the visit is not without risks. The Vatican is well aware of the challenges facing Pope Francis: pandemics and security. However, the Vatican believes this visit will provide more benefits. A risk worth taking.

For the Vatican, this is a valuable opportunity for Pope Francis to support the Catholic community in Iraq through a direct presence in their midst. Communities in Iraq are an important population, considering they are one of the oldest Christian communities in the world.

Several church officials stated "the possibility of disappearing Christians from Iraq".

The decrease in the number of Catholics

The number of Catholics in Iraq continues to decrease. The latest data during the reign of Saddam Hussein, followers of this religion are around one-third of the 1.5 million people. In the next period, that number continued to shrink to only 250 thousand people.

Most have fled abroad as a result of religious violence since the US-led invasion in 2003 and led to the resignation of Saddam Hussein. Tens of thousands of Christians were also scattered when ISIS militias took power in northern Iraq in 2014.

At that time, ISIS militias destroyed historic churches. Christian property was confiscated. They were given the choice of paying taxes, converting, leaving, or being killed.

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