The Pope’s trip to Iraq is a pilgrimage, but it is also a very political event

Pope Francis’ return to the international arena. It’s important in the nerve center ofWorld War III in piecesThis was denounced by Bergoglio from the beginning of his pontificate as a decisive topic in the twenty-first century. IraqWhich begins on Friday and ends on Monday, will experience the body of the 84-year-old Pope, who in just three days will travel between Baghdad, Najaf, Nasiriyah, Ur, Mosul, Erbil and Qaraqosh, and meet the Catholic believers and the Church. The political authorities of a country ravaged by war and torn by conflict, in dialogue with the spiritual leader of the Shiites of Iraq SistaniConfronting the leaders of the Kurdish autonomous region, experiencing the excitement of being at the foot of the graded pyramid of Ur – which is four thousand years old – in the place where tradition makes Ibrahim leave for the Promised Land.

The trip to Iraq – breaking the travel fast imposed by the epidemic – is a religious pilgrimage and at the same time it happened Very political. The mission was placed in the line of John Paul II, who wanted to visit the land of Abraham already on the occasion of Jubilee 2000, but above all it was one. Strong opponent The war on Iraq launched by George W. Bush in alliance with Tony Blair. If the Roman Pope today can present himself openly in Iraq, speaking to all ethnic groups, religious currents and nationalities, it is because Karol Wojtya in 2003 Contrast ò Bush’s active aggression is motivated by the false claim that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. The Polish Pope mobilized Vatican diplomacy around the world, gathered major churches around him, and took measures to ensure Catholic countries such as Mexico and Chile prevented a majority in the United Nations Security Council from forming in favor of Bush’s intervention.

Along these lines, the Argentine Pope moved forward with strength and creativity. Wojtya said that Islam should not become the “enemy” par excellence in the twenty-first century, and Pergiolio signed the brotherhood pact between Christianity and Islam with the great imam Al Azhar, The spiritual center of the Sunnis, established relations with the Iranian Shiite theologian president my soul On Saturday, he will meet the Shiite leader, Sistani.

In the heart of the Middle East, tormented for years by the fundamentalist terror of ISIS, Francis comes to repeat that religions They must cooperate Together in a spirit of brotherhood and opposition to any fundamentalism. In the name of civil equality and social justice. The Cardinal Chaldean Patriarch said, “The Pope does not come to defend the Christians and protect them … He is not an army commander.” Luis Raphael Sacco – Francis will encourage the Christians, and he will provide them with comfort and hope to help them persevere and hope as well as cooperate with other citizens. ”But the Pope does not come to nourish the spirit of the faction:“ He comes to all Iraqis, not only to Christians. He knows that everyone has suffered, not only Christians. ”

In one of the greatest epicenters of the global crisis, Francis arrives with the message that God is the Father of all and that all of God’s children are gone. protected H Respectable: Whether they are a majority or a minority, Sunnis or Shiites, Jews, Christians, Yazidis, adherents of other worldviews. But in “Scorched Earth” in Iraq, Francis’ very presence will serve as a reminder that the ravings of those who told the story of the expansion of Western democracy ended up causing grief and devastation. Annihilate The secular state has fueled terrorism, fundamentalism, civil wars, bloody attacks, and economic crises. It is a warning to the United States and the Israeli right-wing politicians who set off fire yesterday to let Bush begin his military adventure in Iraq and to fuel today the ongoing confrontation with Iran.

A year after his election, after his return from his trip to Korea, Pope Bergoglio affirmed: “We must have a memory! How many times with this excuse to stop the unjust aggressor the forces have seized the peoples and waged a real war of victory! One nation cannot rule … “. It is up to the United Nations to make the decision. In America in particular, during his visit to the United Nations in 2015, Bergoglio wanted to point out that “there is no shortage of serious evidence of the negative consequences of uncoordinated political and military interventions among the members of the international community.” In other words Unilateralism has failed. In Afghanistan, come to Iraq.

In this sense, one of the goals of this trip is to encourage the new Biden administration to relaunch Multilateralism To reach peace solutions, without abandoning the drift of the new cold wars. This is great for relations between the West and China. This applies in particular to the Middle East region for the resumption of dialogue between Washington and Tehran, which for the Holy See must lead to a regional balance of peace between equals without supporting the dominant trends of the new Israeli-Saudi axis. In front of the United States Congress, in September 2015, the Argentine Pope warned that we must be wary “of any form.” polarizationWhich divides the world into two areas: good or evil, or the righteous and sinners … in domestic politics and in foreign policy.