ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Pope Francis expressed his gratitude to Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Sunday for protection of displaced Christians and other minorities during a brief meeting at Erbil international airport on the third day of his official visit to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
Pope Francis became the first Catholic pope to visit the Kurdistan Region on Sunday, almost seven years after the Region opened its doors to nearly 140,000 Christians who fled the Nineveh Plains as Islamic State (ISIS) militants massacred thousands of religious minorities in their blitzkrieg across northern Iraq.
“I am grateful that, despite being in war, you received the displaced Christians and other minorities from Mosul, Nineveh Plains, and Qaraqosh. You opened your arms to Christians,” Pope Francis told President Barzani and other Kurdish officials at the airport. “The enemy came to destroy this country but you served and opened your arms to the displaced Christians and other groups. War brings destruction, but you defeated the enemy and reconstructed your country.”
President Barzani reassured the pope that Christians in the Kurdistan Region are an inseparable part of the people of Kurdistan and the Kurdish authorities will do everything in their power to protect all minorities. “We reject terrorism and extremism. We will never allow any religious or ethnic groups to become victims of terrorism and extremism,” President Barzani said. “We have always been in favor of peace and dialogue.”
In August 2014, when the militants of ISIS were on a rampage across the north of Iraq and parts of Syria, Peshmerga forces opened the doors to hundreds of thousands of Christians, Yazidis, and Arabs from Mosul and the Nineveh Plains fleeing to the safety of the Kurdistan Region. For four years, the Peshmerga fought a bloody battle with ISIS with the help of the international coalition and lost at least 1,800 fighters and more than 10,000 were wounded.
“I have come to bless this land and its soil … I thank you for all you have done and are doing with all the religious groups,” Pope Francis said. “For a long time, I have wanted to visit the Kurdistan Region and I am very happy that I managed to respond to your invitation today.”
Describing religious and ethnic pluralism as a “source of richness and strength,” Barzani said, “Christians are a fundamental and inseparable part of Kurdistan. This peace-loving community has played and will play a critical role in reconstructing, developing and protecting this land. We will not refrain from doing everything in our power to protect them.”
“Your Holiness’ visit has brought blessings for all of us. We ask for your prayer and every assistance that you can provide for Kurdistan and its people,” said Barzani.
Amongst the Kurdish officials who received the pope were former President Masoud Barzani, Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, and current Prime Minister Masrour Barzani who, as the head of the Kurdistan Region Security Council during the war with ISIS, played a vital role in defeating the militant group.
The Christian communities in the Kurdistan Region have lived side-by-side with their Muslim neighbors for generations and have 240 churches and places of worship according to Khaled Jamal, the director of Christian affairs at the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs. Out of around 1.5 million Christians in Iraq when the regime of Saddam Hussein toppled in 2003, fewer than 300,000 remain, most of them living in the Kurdistan Region and the provinces of Kirkuk and Nineveh.
The pope will meet several people today in Erbil, including the grandson of Mohammed Shammadin Agha Selvan, a Kurdish man from Zakho near the Turkish border who played a pivotal role in sheltering Armenians fleeing genocide in modern Turkey between 1916 and 1918. He was recognized by Pope Pius XI for his work protecting Christians from brutality. In 1925, the Catholic leader awarded Selvan with a medal.
"This is the award presented to my grandfather, late Mohammed Shammadin Agha Selvan by Pope Pius XI,” Saad Mohammed Haji Agha told Rudaw on Thursday. “Despite all the hardships, displacement and difficulties our nation saw across different periods of time from 1958 to 1991 and to 2003, and from 2003 up to now, we have kept this award safe and passed it from one generation to the other.”
"Honored to receive @Pontifex today in Erbil. Pope Francis’ visit to the Kurdistan Region is indeed an attestation to our common values of peace, coexistence, and tolerance," Masoud Barzani tweeted.
