Pope Francis made an historic visit on Saturday morning, to the ancient city of Ur — the city of the Patriarch, Abraham, claimed as “father in faith” alike by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The core of his message was one of universal fraternity and universal respect for human life and dignity as the only sure foundations for society and the only true guides to responsible stewardship of the created order, with which God has entrusted us. In this, he acknowledged, we are frequently working against our own broken inclinations and disordered desires, but must make a go of it, with God’s help.
“It is up to us,” Pope Francis said, “to preserve our common home from our predatory aims.”
“It is up to us,” he went on to say, “to remind the world that human life has value for what it is and not for what it has: That the lives of the unborn, the elderly, migrants and men and women, whatever the color of their skin or their nationality, are always sacred and count as much as the lives of everyone else.”
“It is up to us to have the courage to lift up our eyes and look at the stars, the stars that our father Abraham saw, the stars of the promise,” Pope Francis said.
The Holy Father also heard the witness of Iraqis from different confessions and delivered a message of peace and fraternal cooperation for the common good.
Two young people from Basra: Dawood Ara, a Christian; and Hasan Salim, a Muslim; childhood friends who are now upperclassmen in secondary school, told of the trials they have faced and the entrepreneurial spirit with which they have faced them.
Young Messrs. Dawood and Hasan have started a retail business together, with the help of a small loan and the support of their families, to offset the cost of their studies.
“It is up to us,” Pope Francis said, “to preserve our common home from our predatory aims.”
“We didn’t want just to wait until someone offered us a job,” Hasan explained, “because this would take too much time.” So, in 2020, they borrowed two million dinars — about $1,650 — to rent a store in their city, from which they sell clothing. “We were encouraged by our two families and friends, and they come to buy from us.” They report they are happy happy with their project, that they are paying off their debt, and organise their schedules so they can both continue to study.
“We work so that our studies are not affected,” Hasan said, “as we organize our times and pay attention to the prevention against Covid-19.”
“We would like many other Iraqi people to make the same experience,” said Dawood. “We don’t want war and violence and hatred; we want that all people in our country work together and be friends.”
Pope Francis also heard from a woman of the Sabean-Mandaean community — a tiny, close-knit group that practices a monotheistic religion sometimes described as “gnostic” and compared to Manichaeism, revering several figures of the Old Testament and also particularly devoted to John the Baptist — Mrs. Rafah Husein Baher, who told of how she has seen her relatives and even her own children fly the country for various reasons, ultimately rooted in unwillingness to know each other as neighbors.
“We too got ready our passports, but our neighbors’ kindness was generous,” she aid. “We love them, and they love us.”
“All over Iraq are our friends, like one family they help us,” she went on to say. Then, she told the story of Sabean Mandaean man in Basra, Najy, who lost his life to save his Muslim neighbor’s family.
“All Iraqis peacefully coexist,” she said, “between us there are familiarity and common stories, together we subsist through the war’s ruins on the same soil. Our blood was mixed, together we tasted the bitterness of the embargo, we have the same identity.”
Noting that injustice afflicted all Iraqis and terrorism violated everyone’s dignity, she told of how many countries “classified their passports as valueless,” and looked on their wounds “with indifference.”
“It is up to us to remind the world that human life has value for what it is and not for what it has: That the lives of the unborn, the elderly, migrants and men and women, whatever the color of their skin or their nationality, are always sacred and count as much as the lives of everyone else.” — Pope Francis
She said Pope Francis’s visit shows “that Mesopotamia is still respected and valued,” calling the visit “a triumph of virtue” and “a symbol of appreciation” to all Iraqis. “Blessed is he who uproots fear from souls,” she said. “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
Pope Francis also heard from Prof. Ali Zghair Thajeel, a Shi’ite Muslim who teaches at the University of Nassiriyah.
The professor described extreme difficulties — especially over the past 15 years — and said a major turning point came through the good offices of Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako. “The turning point,” he said, “was when we met Cardinal Sako, who advised his auxiliaries and priests to accompany organized pilgrimage to Ur.”
Encouraging pilgrimage brought Christian visitors to the city of Ur for devotional and liturgical prayer, but not only. “The Iraqi Church,” Prof. Ali explained, “treated all Iraqis equally regardless of their [religious] affiliation and ethnicity, especially during crises that confronted us.”
“In such difficult circumstances,” he said, “the Church was the first always in helping the needy, providing (in collaboration with Caritas-Iraq) food and medical aids, that reaches Jebayesh, Fuhood, Shatra and Gharraph, in addition to Nasiriyah.”
In his own remarks, Pope Francis spoke of the need to continue to take concrete action in the face of difficulty.
“The journey of Abraham,” Pope Francis said, “was a blessing of peace — yet it was not easy: he had to face struggles and unforeseen events. We too have a rough journey ahead, but like the great Patriarch, we need to take concrete steps, to set out and seek the face of others, to share memories, gazes and silences, stories and experiences.”
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