Iraq
Craftsmen put the finishing touches to a chair made for the pope’s Qaraqosh visit. Photo submitted to Rudaw English by Ninwaya Polis on March 1, 2021.
QARAQOSH, Iraq — Readying a town for an internationally-broadcast visit from the pope means attention needs to be paid to detail – detail that is being brought by local craftspeople.
Kurjiya Qapo, 61, learned embroidery as a child at school, and has been doing it ever since. She is now making a stole for Pope Francis to wear upon his visit to Qaraqosh. Born and raised in the town, she says his visit to her town is “a sign of hope.”
“It means he’s a thoughtful person, and we are in his mind. So we are not alone. So it’s a hopeful visit, and we are looking forward to it,” Qapo said in her calm, soothing tone.
Her family of six had to flee to Erbil in August 2016 during the Islamic State (ISIS) occupation of Nineveh province. They returned in November 2017 to a burnt and partially destroyed house.
“I felt so sad to see our city in this way, the churches were burnt, our houses were burnt and partially destroyed… it was the worst situation to see the city in this way,” she said.
Known for making traditional clothes for her family, a local priest recommended that she make the stole for the Pope to wear. Qapo says it took her two months to embroider the handmade fabric with her daughter; “I’m doing it with all my heart,” she said.
From wood bought in Mosul, a Mosulite carpenter is making a chair for the pontiff to sit on during his visit to Qaraqosh. “When he returned to his store, ISIS had taken everything from him in the store, he had nothing left. He came to work with us,” says Ninwaya Polis, 24, a project coordinator with l'Oeuvre d'Orient, the organization sponsoring the chair. “I am very proud of him, he’s a very hardworking man.”
L'Oeuvre d'Orient is a French organization that works on construction, health and education, supporting Christians and other minorities in the Middle East. Their work currently focuses on the Nineveh Plains, which Polis said is more in need.
“When [the pope] comes here, he should go to the places that are poor neighbourhoods, not the streets that are now paved for him and renovated… I wish he’d go to those places, or the church that is now renovated. I wish he’d see it when it was burnt,” says Polis, a Christian from Diyana (Soran) in the Kurdistan Region.
“He’ll see how strong they are – even with the situation they were in, they didn’t leave, they stayed… But when he sees it, it will change things a lot.”
Having seen the town’s preparations, Polis’ is full of anticipation for the papal visit.
“I was in Qaraqosh for three days, and seeing people working and preparing has made me feel more excited,” he said.
People in Qaraqosh are also making traditional clothes for locals to wear when the pope visits the city.
Martin Moayyad, 36, is originally from Qaraqosh and embroiders clothes for a living; his mother tailors them. “Depending on the design, it takes 15-30 days to make them,” Moayyad said.
“It will show the tradition of the place and it’s the clothes that our ancestors wore… when the pope visits and they’re wearing these clothes, it will be a memory in the future,” said Moayyad, who has also volunteered with the Christian community cleaning out places in the city.
The pope’s visit is “a blessing”, he said. “We don’t think that he’s a guest, because he comes to visit the place of Ibrahim (Prophet Abraham), as he’s his father.”
Elsewhere in Qaraqosh, a Christian artist is busy preparing stained glass windows for a local church ahead of the landmark visit to her town.
Ruaa Faraj Albana is a fine arts graduate from Mosul University. She spent four years in Erbil’s Ainkawa neighbourhood after the Islamic State (ISIS) took control of Qaraqosh in 2014. She returned to her hometown four years later.
“After we found out that the pope is coming to visit the church, my happiness doubled and I began working more than 18 hours [a day],” Albana said.
“I am so happy I’m doing this, it’s been my dream for a long time to see the windows of al-Tahira church with my artwork on them.”
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