a delegation of French bishops visiting Iraq

Two years to the day, after the historic visit of Pope Francis, and five years after the fall of Daesh, a delegation from the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) is going to Iraq to learn about the situation of Christians of the East and to show them the constant concern of the Church of France for them. “It seemed important to us to show our solidarity with the Church of Iraq”, underlined, at the time of departure, Father Hugues de Woillemont, Secretary General of the CEF.

The group is made up of Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, Archbishop of Reims and President of the CEF, Mgrs Laurent Ulrich (Paris) and Lebrun (Rouen), and Father Hugues de Woillemont, spokesperson for the CEF. The French delegation will travel to Baghdad, Mosul, Karakoch and Erbil, accompanied by Bishop Pascal Gollnisch, Vicar General of the Ordinariate for Eastern Catholics in France and Director General of L’Œuvre d’Orient.

During their stay from March 5 to 9, the bishops will notably visit the Syriac Catholic cathedral of Baghdad, hit by a deadly attack in 2010. The French bishops will meet on Monday the Chaldean patriarch his beatitude Louis Raphaël Ier Sako.

Religious and diplomats

During their stay, the meetings will multiply, both with the apostolic nuncio Mgr Leskovar and the Christian representatives as well as with the institutions, the French ambassador Éric Chevalier, the consuls of Erbil and Mosul. With the bishops of various dioceses of Iraq, the French delegation will discuss in particular the aid that the faithful of France have been able to bring to the Church of Iraq, but also how the Iraqis driven out by the war have been welcomed in France.

During his trip to Iraq, on Monday March 8, 2021, the Pope presented himself as “a pilgrim of peace”, and delivered a message of peace and fraternity to the Iraqi population, bruised by decades of war and suffering. In the footsteps of Pope Francis, the French delegation will renew its call for peace and reaffirm its solidarity.

Committed Christians

The bishops will also visit the Saint-Raphaël hospital, the school of the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation, a shelter for women in distress and the parishes of Kirkuk and the groups of young people. “Last year, we went to Lebanon: these meetings are important to express our solidarity with the other Churches”, recalled Father de Woillemont.

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