Iraqi Catholics call it ‘miracle’ that pope will visit their city
People attend Mass in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Qaraqosh, Iraq, June 7, 2019. Pope Francis plans to visit Iraq March 5-8. (CNS photo/Marcin Mazur)
By Doreen Abi Raad • Catholic News Service • Posted February 11, 2021
BEIRUT (CNS) The largest Syriac Catholic congregation in the world is preparing physically and spiritually for Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Qaraqosh, Iraq.
“Words can’t describe how happy we are,” Syriac Catholic Father Roni Momeka told Catholic News Service.
“The people feel that it’s a miracle that the pope will come here,” Father Momeka said. “They are happy not only for the visit, but they are happy that Pope Francis is thinking about those people who are in pain, those people who lost everything, but who never lost their faith.”
Are divisions deepening between Shia leadership in Iraq and Iran?
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For outsiders, all Shia groups know just one master, Iran, a Shia-majority country. But recent escalations between the two Shia groups disprove that understanding.
Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Tehran has aimed to increase its political and military presence across the Middle East, creating its own Shia proxies like Lebanon’s Hezbollah to dominate the Middle East.
With the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Washington unexpectedly helped Iran play its political game better, removing one of Tehran’s fiercest enemies, Saddam Hussein, the former Sunni leader of the Shia-majority country.