By Inés San Martín

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Crux) — Flanked by the pictures of 48 Iraqi martyrs, Pope Francis defined them as a reminder that inciting war and violence is incompatible with authentic religious teaching.

The deaths of those martyred in the Syro-Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation on Oct. 31, 2010, the pope said during a meeting with the bishops, religious, and catechists in Baghdad on Friday, “are a powerful reminder that inciting war, hateful attitudes, violence or the shedding of blood are incompatible with authentic religious teachings.”

[Click here to read the Holy Father’s full speech: “Pope Francis’ Speech to Bishops, Priests and Religious in Baghdad’s Cathedral”]

Cardinal Louis Sako, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, urged the pope to hurry their sainthood cause, meaning to publicly acknowledge that the 48 Catholics murdered by five terrorists during Mass were killed in odium fidei — in hatred of their faith.

Two of those murdered were young priests, along with several children and a pregnant woman.

“Regardless of what has happened to us and our pain, we have persevered in the faith, our spiritual serenity, and our fraternal solidarity, with all the churches doing a great job in being close to those wounded, to help them and ease their pain,” Cardinal Sako said.

Pope Francis also said he wanted to remember all the victims of violence and persecution, regardless of the religious group to which they belong, which he will do on Saturday when he heads to the city of Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, father of believers. There, the pope will meet with the leaders of the religious traditions present in Iraq, to proclaim “our conviction that religion must serve the cause of peace and unity among all God’s children.”

“This evening I want to thank you for your efforts to be peacemakers, within your communities and with believers of other religious traditions, sowing seeds of reconciliation and fraternal coexistence that can lead to a rebirth of hope for everyone,” the pope said.

The 2010 attack lasted over four hours until the police raided the church. At this point, the terrorists blew themselves up. They were never officially identified.

Fathers Thaer Saadulla Abdal, 32, and Waseem Sabih Kas Boutros, 27, had been ordained in 2006 and 2007, respectively, in the same cathedral where they were martyred.

Behind the altar on top of an image of the Virgin with Jesus was a picture of the martyrs, around a red cross, signifying the blood they shed. On the roof and the floor, squares of metal and granite mark the places where their bodies were found.

At a diocesan level in Baghdad, the cause for their martyrdom was closed in 2019 when it was sent to Rome. During his flight from Italy to Iraq on Friday, the pope received a book compiling the story of the martyrs.

The cathedral, Pope Francis said, is “hallowed by the blood of our brothers and sisters who here paid the ultimate price of their fidelity to the Lord and his Church.”

“May the memory of their sacrifice inspire us to renew our own trust in the power of the cross and its saving message of forgiveness, reconciliation, and rebirth,” he said. “For Christians are called to bear witness to the love of Christ in every time and place.”

The pontiff was welcomed into a semi-filled church to guarantee social distancing, but the ululating of the women who were present gave the sense that the cathedral was packed. Before going in, he spent several minutes greeting disabled people at the door.

Hardships, he said, are part of the daily experience of the Iraqi faithful, noting that in recent years they have had to deal with the effects of war and persecution, as well as the fragility of basic infrastructures and economic struggle “that has frequently led to internal displacements and the migration of many people, including Christians, to other parts of the world.”

Pope Francis also invited those present not to be “infected by the virus of discouragement,” that can spread “all around us,” because God has given the faithful an “effective vaccine” against it: the hope born of persevering prayer and fidelity to the apostolates.

“With this vaccine, we can go forth with renewed strength, to share the joy of the Gospel as missionary disciples and living signs of the presence of God’s kingdom of holiness, justice, and peace,” he said.

Addressing bishops, he called on them to be close to their priests, so that they won’t see them as administrators or managers but “true fathers” worried for the welfare of the priests entrusted to their care, ready to offer support and to encourage them.

Talking to priests, women and men religious, catechists, and seminarians, he called on them to have courage and zeal in announcing the Gospel, without being consumed by the “administrative” element of their tasks, meaning, without spending all their time in meetings or behind a desk, to instead accompany the faithful.

“Be pastors, servants of the people, not civil servants,” he said.

Putting together the martyrdom cause of the 48 people killed in the terrorist attack took over nine months of research. The information on each varied, and there are two victims for whom the cause only has a name and their presence.

The fact that Baghdad lost two-thirds of its Catholic population in the past two decades, either because they were killed or forced to flee, made the investigation all the more complicated. Many of the family members of those killed, who are usually interviewed for a sainthood cause, are living as refugees and either not wanting or not being able to be identified.

The witnesses hail from all over: Lebanon, France, Canada, Australia, and also Baghdad. Most have since fled their country, one of the cradles of Christianity. Many of them said that the terrorists, when pulling the trigger or before activating the explosive belts they carried, shouted “Allahu Akbar,” which translates to “God is great.”

When he decided to open the martyrdom cause, Archbishop Yousif Abba, the Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Baghdad, had contemplated only pursuing the sainthood cause for the two priests, as the Church had the information on them. But in the end, they were all included because they all died for the same reason: They were at Mass.

All of those who lost their lives did so in the church. Many were seriously wounded and hospitalized but survived. An estimated 50 people hid in the sacristy with an elderly priest and the pregnant woman who had been mortally wounded before she reached the safety of the hiding place. A group of around 20 had found refuge in the baptistery. They too were saved.

By Inés San Martín

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Crux) — During his first remarks in Iraq, Pope Francis said that the name of God can never be used “to justify acts of murder, exile, terrorism, and oppression” and that minorities cannot be treated as second class citizens.

“Religion, by its very nature, must be at the service of peace and fraternity,” the pontiff said while speaking to civil authorities and diplomats.

[Click here to read “Pope Francis’ Full Speech to the Authorities of Iraq” }

The pontiff noted that over the past several decades, Iraq had been affected by the scourge of terrorism and sectarian violence grounded in a “fundamentalism” incapable of accepting the “peaceful coexistence of different ethnic and religious groups, different ideas and cultures.”

This violence brought in its wake death, destruction, and ruin, and not only of material things, he argued: “The damage is so much deeper if we think of the heartbreak endured by so many individuals and communities, and wounds that will take years to heal.”

The number of those killed since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq is virtually impossible to calculate. In addition to the thousands killed during the war, there are those killed in the jihadi violence afterward.

During ISIS’s 2013-2017 reign of terror, there were cases of Yazidi women put in cages, naked and burned alive in the public square by ISIS for refusing to submit to sexual demands, and Christians crucified and beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam.

Today, though arguably less grueling, the violence against minorities continues, perpetrated by militias, formed in many cases by former ISIS combatants, who are terrorizing civilians.

In his remarks, Pope Francis noted that God created all human beings equal in dignity and rights.

“In Iraq too, the Catholic Church desires to be a friend to all and, through interreligious dialogue, to cooperate constructively with other religions in serving the cause of peace,” he said, making a case for the place of Christianity in Iraq, saying that the age-old presence of Christians in the land of Abraham, and the contributions they have made to the life of the nation, constitute a rich heritage that they want to continue to put at the service of all.

“Their participation in public life, as citizens with full rights, freedoms, and responsibilities, will testify that a healthy pluralism of religious beliefs, ethnicities, and cultures can contribute to the nation’s prosperity and harmony,” the pope said.

The Argentine pontiff, who will be in Iraq until Monday, highlighted that his apostolic visit is taking place as the world tries to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected people’s health and contributed to making social and economic conditions all the more fragile and unstable.

The coronavirus crisis requires “concerted efforts,” including in the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Yet, Pope Francis said, this by itself is not enough.

“This crisis is above all a summons to ‘rethink our styles of life… and the meaning of our existence,’ ” he said, quoting his encyclical Fratelli Tutti.

Speaking about the suffering endured by many in Iraq, the pontiff singled out the Yazidis as “innocent victims of senseless and brutal atrocities, persecuted and killed for their religion, and whose very identity and survival was put at risk.”

In a span of a few hours in August 2014, some 5,000 Yazidi men were brutally murdered by ISIS, and some 7,000 women and children were kidnapped. The whereabouts of close to 2,500 of them are still unknown.

More than half a million Yazidis were then forced to leave their homeland in the Sinjar region of Iraq.

The pope said the only way to begin an “effective process of rebuilding” and leave a better and more humane world to future generations is by looking beyond differences to instead see each other as members of the same human family.

“In this regard, the religious, cultural, and ethnic diversity that has been a hallmark of Iraqi society for millennia is a precious resource on which to draw, not an obstacle to be eliminated,” Pope Francis said. “Iraq today is called to show everyone, especially in the Middle East, that diversity, instead of giving rise to conflict, should lead to harmonious cooperation in the life of society.”

He applauded the efforts being made by authorities to grant all religious communities recognition, with their rights respected and lives protected.

Speaking about a society’s need to bear the imprint of fraternal unity to live in solidarity, the pontiff remembered all those who have lost family members and loved ones, as well as their homes or livelihood “due to violence, persecution or terrorism.”

“I think too of those who continue to struggle for security and the means of personal and economic survival at a time of growing unemployment and poverty,” he said.

The fact that “we are responsible for the fragility of others,” the pope added, should be an inspiration to create opportunities of progress, not only economically but also in terms of education and care for the environment.

“Following a crisis, it is not enough simply to rebuild; we need to rebuild well so that all can enjoy a dignified life,” he said, insisting “we never emerge from a crisis the same as we were; we emerge from it either better or worse.”

In a country that has seen thousands protest against endemic corruption in recent days, Pope Francis told politicians and diplomats that it’s not enough to simply combat the “scourge of corruption, misuse of power and disregard for law,” it is also necessary to promote justice and foster honesty, transparency and a strengthening of institutions.

The pontiff also noted that through the years, many had continuously prayed for Iraq, including St. John Paul II, who “spared no initiatives and above all offered his prayers and sufferings” for peace in this country.

God, he said, “always listens,” but it’s up to humanity to listen to him and walk his path.

“May the clash of arms be silenced!” Pope Francis urged. “May their spread be curbed, here and everywhere! May partisan interests cease, those outside interests uninterested in the local population. May the voice of builders and peacemakers find a hearing! The voice of the humble, the poor, the ordinary men and women who want to live, work and pray in peace.”

“May there be an end to acts of violence and extremism, factions and intolerance!” 

He noted the international community also has a role in promoting peace both in Iraq and in the Middle East as a whole.

“As we have seen during the lengthy conflict in neighboring Syria — which began 10 years ago these very days — the challenges facing our world today engage the entire human family,” he said.

After addressing civil authorities, Pope Francis was set to encounter Iraq’s religious community before calling it a day. On Saturday, he’ll have two encounters aimed at fostering religious dialogue, and on Sunday, visit Kurdistan and the Nineveh Plain.

In his remarks, Iraq President Barham Salih said the people of the country “are proud of having protected churches from terrorist attacks” and noted that “Muslim soldiers carried crosses on their shoulders to liberate Christian churches” after the ISIS occupation.

The president said that if Christians disappear from the Middle East, it will have “disastrous consequences. The Middle East is unimaginable without its Christians.”

Salih called on an interreligious dialogue initiative involving the Vatican, the Shia Islam heartland of Najaf, and the Sunni Al-Azhar University in Egypt and other religious groups.

“Iraq deserves better,” the president said: It deserves a “future of collaboration.”