BAGHDAD -- Pope Francis opened the first-ever papal visit to Iraq on Friday seeking to help heal a nation uniquely wounded by violent sectarianism, foreign adventurism and the persecution of minority populations, including his own Christian flock.
"I come as a penitent," Francis said. "Asking forgiveness of heaven and my brothers and sisters for so much destruction and cruelty."
Francis brushed aside the coronavirus pandemic and security concerns to resume his globe-trotting papacy after a yearlong hiatus spent under lockdown in Vatican City. His primary aim over the weekend is to encourage Iraq's dwindling Christian population, which was violently persecuted by the Islamic State group and still faces discrimination by the Muslim majority, to stay and help rebuild the country devastated by wars and strife.
"Only if we learn to look beyond our differences and see each other as members of the same human family," Francis told Iraqi authorities in his welcoming address, "will we be able to begin an effective process of rebuilding and leave to future generations a better, more just and more humane world."
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He issued a plea for the country to protect its centuries-old diversity, urging Muslims to embrace their Christian neighbors as a precious resource and asking the embattled Christian community -- "though small like a mustard seed" -- to persevere.
Christianity took root in the region within decades of the death of Jesus, though Christians today constitute little more than 1% of the country's population.
In a pomp-filled gathering with President Barham Salih at a palace in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, Francis said Christians and other minority groups in Iraq deserve the same rights and protections as the Shiite Muslim majority.
"The religious, cultural and ethnic diversity that has been a hallmark of Iraqi society for millennia is a precious resource on which to draw, not an obstacle to eliminate," he said. "Iraq today is called to show everyone, especially in the Middle East, that diversity, instead of giving rise to conflict, should lead to harmonious cooperation in the life of society."
Salih, a member of Iraq's ethnic Kurdish minority, echoed his call.
"The East cannot be imagined without Christians," Salih said. "The continued migration of Christians from the countries of the east will have dire consequences for the ability of the people from the same region to live together."
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POPE LIMPING
Francis was limping throughout the afternoon, perhaps a sign of sciatica nerve pain that has flared and forced him to cancel events recently. He nearly tripped as he climbed the steps to a cathedral and an aide had to steady him.
The 84-year-old pope wore a mask during the flight from Rome and throughout his protocol visits, as did his hosts. But the masks came off when the leaders sat down to talk, and social distancing and other health measures appeared lax at the airport and on the streets of Baghdad, despite the country's worsening covid-19 outbreak.
The government is eager to show off the relative stability it has achieved after the defeat of the Islamic State "caliphate." Nonetheless, security measures were tight.
Francis, who relishes plunging into crowds and likes to travel in an open-sided popemobile, was transported around Baghdad in an armored black BMWi750, flanked by rows of motorcycle police. It was believed to be the first time Francis had used a bullet-resistant vehicle -- both to protect him and to keep crowds from forming.
The pope traveled through the city's empty, locked-down streets in a bubble of extraordinary security precautions. Military helicopters hovered overhead. Heavily armed soldiers lined avenues decorated with Vatican flags and "Mesopotamia Greets You" signs. Troops also kept watch from rooftops wherever the pope stopped.
The pope's visit coincided with a recent return of suicide bombings, increased rocket attacks and renewed geopolitical tensions, and some of Francis' admirers worry that his whirlwind four-day visit will exacerbate a recent spike in the country's coronavirus cases by drawing crowds.
But his advisers and Iraq's top prelates insisted that social distancing measures would be followed and argued that the trip was necessary to show Francis' closeness to a flock that has suffered terribly. Francis seemed determined to go on the trip that on Friday he called "long-awaited and desired."
And Iraqis seemed keen to welcome Francis and the global attention his visit brought. Some lined the road to cheer his motorcade. Banners and posters in central Baghdad depicted Francis with the slogan "We are all Brothers."
Some hoping to get close were sorely disappointed by the security cordons.
"It was my great wish to meet the pope and pray for my sick daughter and pray for her to be healed. But this wish was not fulfilled," said Raad William Georges, a 52-year-old father of three who said he was turned away when he tried to see Francis during his visit to Our Lady of Salvation Cathedral in the Karrada neighborhood.
"This opportunity will not be repeated," he said ruefully. "I will try tomorrow, I know it will not happen, but I will try."
Francis told reporters aboard the papal plane that he was happy to be resuming his travels again and said it was particularly symbolic that his first trip was to Iraq, the traditional birthplace of Abraham, revered by Muslims, Christians and Jews.
"This is an emblematic journey," he said. "It is also a duty to a land tormented by many years."
After decades of dictatorship and more than a decade of sanctions, the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein sparked a security vacuum and the rise of al-Qaida in Iraq. The country descended into civil war. A decade later, the Islamic State group took over a third of the country. Iraq is still struggling to recover.
CAREFULLY PLANNED
The visit is in keeping with Francis' long-standing effort to improve relations with the Muslim world, which has accelerated in recent years with his friendship with a leading Sunni cleric, Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb. It will reach a new high with his meeting today with Iraq's leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a figure revered in Iraq and beyond.
The pope will make history when he crosses the threshold into a small, rented dwelling in the holy city of Najaf. His visit to Sistani's home marks a powerful moment in interfaith relations, experts say, and millions of people will be watching.
Sistani is Iraq's leading religious authority and a preeminent figure in Shiite Islam, and his meeting with the pontiff is loaded with symbolism: two global religious leaders sitting down together for the first time, Francis in white robes, Sistani in black, alone except for interpreters, during an encounter that many had expected the pandemic would delay.
"Both men mean so much to so many people, even outside their faith," said Abbas Kadhim, a resident senior fellow and director of the Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council. "This gives the pope's visit more than one dimension. Normally, people expect the pope to visit Christian communities, but this visit is completely different: He is visiting Iraq in all its diversity."
The meeting has been months in the making, almost falling through at least once. It is expected to last less than an hour, and officials say every detail has been meticulously planned, from how the two men will greet each other to where they will sit.
It will begin with Francis walking 30 yards from his vehicle to Sistani's home in Najaf's old city, a maze of narrow alleyways near the gold-domed Imam Ali shrine, where one of Shiite Islam's most revered figures is buried. The pope will take off his shoes before he enters.
Sistani's residence is modest, with little furniture. The 90-year-old ayatollah is reclusive, not known to have left his home in years, and visitors are rare.
"This visit will really solidify Najaf's place and Sistani's place at the center of global Shiism," said Marsin Alshamary, a Brookings Institution research fellow. "It's also a reminder that Sistani is a spiritual guide to millions of Muslims outside Iraq."
Although born in Iran, Sistani has lived in Iraq for decades and is widely recognized as an Iraqi nationalist. He holds political, as well as religious, sway, making key interventions during times of crisis in Iraq.
In 2019, his backing of widespread demonstrations against the corruption that has throttled Iraq's political system since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion precipitated the fall of a prime minister. In 2014, it was his religious edict that brought tens of thousands of young men out to fight Islamic State militants sweeping across Iraq.
Scholars studying Sistani and the religious establishment from which he hails say that a defining feature of his approach is a desire to achieve stability in Iraq. But his pronouncements have also had unintended consequences.
While the 2014 fatwa urging men to enlist in Iraq's security forces was crucial to the defeat of the Islamic State, it also allowed Iran-backed groups to cement their power as part of that war effort, deepening corruption and making the country harder to govern.
Francis' visit comes after Iraq has been rocked by waves of anti-government protests, demanding a political system free of the corruption and identity politics that have taken the system to a breaking point. In a moment of disillusionment and fatigue, Alshamary said, the pope's visit to Sistani holds out, instead, the promise of hope.
"There really is an opportunity here for an Iraqi figure to bring a message of inclusivity at a time when the public is receptive to it," she said.
Information for this article was contributed by Nicole Winfield, Samya Kullab and Qassim Abdul-Zahra of The Associated Press; by Louisa Loveluck of The Washington Post; and by Jason Horowitz and Jane Arraf of The New York Times.
