“We warmly welcome Patriarch Louis Sako to Erbil, the capital of peaceful coexistence for all religions and groups,” said Barzani in a tweet. “The Kurdistan Region, and the alchemy of coexistence that thrives here, is a source of pride to us all.”
He also said that he condemns “the treatment directed towards the Patriarch.”
Tensions have surged in Iraq between the government and the Christian community after President Abdul Latif Rashid earlier this month cited constitutional grounds to revoke a special presidential decree formally recognizing Cardinal Sako and granting him powers over Christian endowment affairs. This angered the religious leader and his community.
Cardinal Sako, who visited Turkey days after the tensions began, arrived at Erbil International Airport on Friday and was warmly welcomed by the Kurdistan Region’s government and religious officials.
“Religious symbols are respected in the Kurdistan Region,” he told reporters after his arrival in the Kurdish capital. “The evidence is this warm welcome and respect. This is the return of dignity for us.”
Sako said that he will stay in the Region until Baghdad restores the special presidential decree that was revoked.
Fewer than 300,000 Christians remain in Iraq today, a staggering fall from over 1.5 million who used to call the country home before the 2003 American invasion.
The Kurdistan Region is predominantly Muslim, but prides itself as a protector of freedom of religion. When the Islamic State group (ISIS) seized control of vast swathes of northern Iraq in the summer of 2014, thousands of Iraqi Christians sought shelter in the Kurdistan Region. Churches in Ainkawa took in many of their brethren before they were resettled in camps or emigrated abroad.
“We view the role and position of our Christian brothers and sisters with respect as they are an ancient and ethnic component of Kurdistan and Iraq, and have throughout history actively participated in building, protecting, and developing the country,” Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said in his 2022 Easter congratulatory message.
President Barzani met with Pope Francis in the Vatican in April. The Pope “praised the culture of peaceful coexistence and acceptance among religious and ethnic communities” in the Kurdistan Region and called for this tolerance to be safeguarded, according to a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
Pope Francis made a historic trip to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in March 2021, visiting several cities across the country and holding mass for 10,000 people in Erbil.
