Pope Francis kicks off his historic visit to Iraq | LIVE

[pokerplayer]

Just now, Shelley said:

It’s really out of our control , all we can do is be patient 

 

I'm just waiting for the Guru's saying that the Pope is there giving his blessing to a rate and date for the RV, lol. They are that dumb I can see it happening.

 

  pp

[PrehistoricMan]

2 hours ago, GreedyDinar07 said:

Yea, because they can't reform anything at 1450 or 1190...I understand what they are trying to do with corruption but how long can the people tolerate not have purchasing power before they start rebelling. Someone stated it will be another year to 3 years before anything happens and if that is the case there will be no more Iraq if it takes that long. I am hoping something will happen within the next few months with all that is going on HCL etc...let's go Iraq RV and join the rest of the world!!

I heard it is going to be 10 more years from a reliable source.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not true.  I just want to see Greedydinar lose his head.

[boosterbglee]

If anything happens to the Pope, the world will come unglued and we might as well burn our Dinar!  My opinion!

[GreedyDinar07]

Phrehistoric that was the laugh for the day!! LMAO! Now if you would have said 5 years you really would of got me because ten is stretching it. (This is Iraq though) I just happen to scroll down before I went into a rage!! Good one!! Humor helps a whole lot dealing with this madness.

[GreedyDinar07]

Prehistoric...I meant to say...

[jim brown]

 

Praying for positive results go RV

A Historic Visit

Pope Francis becomes the first pontiff to visit Iraq today, an effort meant to show support for Iraq's shrinking Christian population and promote religious dialogue. The four-day trip spans six cities, crisscrossing the country despite a recent rise in violence that includes suicide bombings, militia violence, and rising regional tensions. 

The trip begins with a stop at Baghdad's Our Lady of Salvation Church, the site of a 2010 attack by al Qaeda-linked militants that left 50 people dead. The pope will then head south to Najaf for a carefully scripted meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the 93-year-old leader of Iraq's Shia Muslims. A marquee feature of the trip occurs Sunday, with Francis traveling north to Mosul and Erbil, a region gripped by ISIS rule from 2014 to 2017. The visit will be capped by a mass in an Erbil soccer stadium.

[haymon]

Maybe he brought his dinar and is the first to cash in, in house.

[horsesoldier]

1 hour ago, haymon said:

Maybe he brought his dinar and is the first to cash in, in house.

That Pope guy, pays to be an insider...what a character huh ! 

[3n1]

1 hour ago, haymon said:

Maybe he brought his dinar and is the first to cash in, in house.

 

exactly haymon, myself and a co-worker dinarian joked today what exchange rate he got and if he would be in tier one level or first in line so to speak ... always joking of course ..... we wait

[Longtimelurker]

The Pope is Tier 4b right after Okie

[horsesoldier]

7 hours ago, boosterbglee said:

If anything happens to the Pope, the world will come unglued and we might as well burn our Dinar!  My opinion!

 

Right you are . . . How Many Catholics are in The World - Scripture Catholic  - - -  with approx. 1.2 Billion highly pissed off Catholics, collectively they would probably call for the incineration of Iraq if some unthinkable happening were to befall the Pope. 

Then the approx. 1.7 Muslims of the world How Many Muslims Are There In The World? - WorldAtlas not to be outdone. would call for a global Jihad against the 1.2 Billion Catholics. The Catholics aren't having that ....Aint no chance of de-escalation at that point as I'm pretty sure the Catholics have more Nukes and it's EPIC & BIBLICAL game on.

The global population is perhaps, approx. 7.5 Billion . Now with Muslim/Catholic tally at ( approx. ) 2.9 Billion; you have just about a 3rd of the entire global population screaming Blood Murder.

By this time, I've been nailing Large pieces of crooked wood to the doors and windows, activated my mine fields and my remote machine gun posts, gone to ground with the family & Horse in my Nuclear Biological & Chemical proof 5000 sq. ft. Bunker. flipped on the popcorn maker & BIG SCREEN TV to watch the " the Fireworks "

 

LET'S GET READY TO RUMMMBBBBBBLLLLEEEEEE !!!!!!!

[yota691]

The Pope of the Vatican begins a "historic" 3-day visit to Iraq

Side of the Pope's reception

 05 March 2021 2:54 PM

 

Mubasher: The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, received today, Friday, Pope Francis, the Pope of the Vatican at Baghdad International Airport.

The Iraqi News Agency, "INA", said today, Friday, that the Pope's visit is the first to Iraq, which the media described as "historic", and will last for 3 days.

The Pope’s visit includes a meeting with the President of the Republic, a visit to Najaf to meet with Sistani, and a visit to the city of Ur in Dhi Qar.

And Pope Francis left Baghdad airport towards Baghdad Palace, where he will meet the President of the Republic, Barham Salih.

[yota691]

The Pope of the Vatican calls on the international community to suppor t the promotion of peace in Iraq and the Middle East

Pope Francis

 05 March 2021 05:45 PM

 

Mubasher: Pope Francis called on the Pope to confront the scourge of corruption and abuse of power, stressing his encouragement for reform steps in Iraq.

This came during his speech at the official reception at Baghdad Palace, as part of his official visit to the land of Iraq, which takes 3 days, and was described by the media as "historical," according to the Iraq News Agency, "INA", on Friday.

And the Pope continued: "Iraq during the past decades has suffered from the scourge of wars and terrorism, and all of this has brought death and destruction to Iraq and the damage is deeper in the hearts of the citizens."

And the Pope added, "I cannot help but mention the Yazidis, the innocent victims of the inhuman attack. They were persecuted and killed because of their religious affiliation, and their identity and their very survival were at risk."

The Pope called on the international community to play a decisive role in promoting peace in Iraq and the whole Middle East, noting that "the growing challenges invite the entire human family to cooperate on a global scale to confront economic inequality and regional tensions that threaten the stability of these countries."

And the Pope of the Vatican indicated that "brotherly coexistence needs sincere dialogue," noting that "religious diversity has characterized Iraq for thousands of years."

The Pope affirmed that he "joins his voice to the voice of those with good intentions to build society," noting that "rebuilding alone is not sufficient, but it is necessary to master reconstruction."

He pointed out that "politicians are called to confront the scourge of corruption and abuse of power," affirming his support for the reform steps taken in Iraq.

[yota691]

A piece of Iraq will accompany Pope Francis to the Vatican
Carved that forms a miniature version of the Trail Cross painting
(AFP)  Saturday 6 March 2021 5:25
    

 

Iraqi artist Yasser Hekmat displays the sculpture representing the sixth station of the Way of the Cross (AFP)

 

 

Pope Francis will carry with him a piece from Iraq to the Vatican, which is a sculpture that forms a miniature copy of the painting The Way of the Cross that one of the most famous Iraqi sculptors carved on the wall of a Baghdad church, and specially made in honor of the Supreme Pontiff on his historical visit to Iraq.

 

On Friday evening, the Iraqi President, Barham Salih, who was officially invited to this extraordinary visit, presented the bronze painting as a gift to the exceptional guest.

Yasser Hekmat, son of the Iraqi sculptor Muhammad Ghani Hekmat, who died in 2011, supervised the preparation of the sculpture, which represents the sixth leg of the Way of the Cross, "Veronica wipes the face of Jesus", in complete secrecy.

 

Hekmat told the French press, "She represents a symbol for Iraq, because an Arab-Muslim sculptor created the path of the Passion of Christ ... and she represents the whole of Iraq, in which there is no distinction between sects."

 

Behind this miniature masterpiece, which is four times less than the original sculpture, lies the almost complete history of modern Iraq that the Pope will tour from north to south until Monday morning.

 

In 1993, when Iraq was subject to the siege of the international community in order to pressure the then president, Saddam Hussein, after invading Kuwait, this church was rising in Baghdad.

 

The socialist regime led by Saddam Hussein had taken possession of the original Chaldean Church of the Ascension, so the parish to it decided to build a new church in the remote suburbs of the capital, known as the Al-Mashtal area.

 

The 5,600 Chaldean families living in the area took several years to raise the necessary funds to build their new church.

 

At that time, the residents persuaded the sculptor Muhammad Ghani Hekmat, the maker of many sculptures that turned into landmarks in Baghdad, such as the Kahramana monument in Kahramana Square, to carve for their church "the path of the cross", which are paintings representing the 14 stages of the path of Calvary that Christ took until his crucifixion, and there is no parallel. This masterpiece can be found in any other Chaldean church in the world, as Father Fadi Nadir, pastor of the Church of the Ascension since 2017, explains.

Hikmat devoted himself in his workshop to create the stages of the "Path of Pain", in a state of spiritual contemplation, as he described it, before revealing the result to the world a few months later.

 

The artist, dubbed the "Sheikh of the Sculptors in Iraq", engraved on stone pieces brought from the Nineveh Plain, the center of Christianity in Iraq, these stages of suffering from the moment Christ was judged until he was crucified and buried.
The work does not contain religious symbols only. On the corner of each stone panel, the artist carved a woman and a child who represent the Iraqi people who are suffocated by wars and siege, just as every needy and outcast called on Christ in his teachings to defend them.

 

Today the siege has become a distant memory, but the Church of the Ascension is no longer what it used to be, as its majestic architecture in the ancient Babylonian style is covered with Iraqi yellow stone, a wall of cement blocks laid during the civil war in 2007.

Today, after nearly 28 years, only 400 of the 5,600 Chaldean families remain, while most of them dream of leaving.

 

Father Naseer says with a smile that despite the many daily challenges that Iraq has faced for 40 years amid political and economic crises and wars, "choosing the works in our church to give a copy of them as a gift from the Iraqi state to His Holiness is a beautiful note."

The young priest explains that this initiative overwhelms the hearts of Christians in the Mashtal area with "immense joy," and the same applies to all Iraqis.

He continues that the Pope was telling the world from his visit, "There is a country called Iraq, and we must take care of it. We must show solidarity with it, and direct our eyes and ideas towards it."

[yota691]

Pope Francis and Sistani and the "Symbolism of the Encounter"

Posted in: 05/03/2021 - 21:48

Screen capture. © France 24

Prepare :Handsome redFollow

6 minutes

On the second day of his visit to Iraq, Pope Francis will visit the Shiite authority, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in Najaf. What are the symbolism and connotations of this meeting? What could result from it?

[yota691]

 

Muslim sages: The Pope’s visit gives Iraq and the region hope

 

•  

 2021-03-05 15:19

 

Shafaq News / The Muslim Council of Elders said, on Friday, that it "is following with interest" the visit of the Pope of the Catholic Church, Francis to Iraq, considering that it "represents a great opportunity to promote peace and sends a message of solidarity with all victims of violence in the region and the world."

 

The Council of Muslim Elders added in a statement that the historic visit of Pope Francis "comes to heal the wounds of the Iraqi people after many years of wars and destruction, and gives Iraq and the region hope for a better tomorrow based on tolerance and acceptance of others."

 

He also considered that "the Pope's keenness to complete the visit despite the challenges reflects his belief in the spirit of human brotherhood, and is a call to convergence on the participants and uphold the principle of equal citizenship among all, away from calls of hatred, sectarianism and war."

 

The Council of Muslim Elders affirmed that the papal visit to Iraq and the efforts made by the Pope of the Vatican to promote peace, "are consistent with the vision and objectives of the Council in promoting peace and coexistence, confronting hatred and extremism, and building a human relationship based on love and mutual respect."

 

The Secretary-General of the Council of Muslim Elders, Sultan Al-Rumaithi, said that Pope Francis' numerous visits to the Islamic world "strengthened bridges of dialogue and convergence between East and West, especially as they complement the efforts of his older brother, Imam Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Chairman of the Council of Muslim Elders, and his tours and movements in the West." This culminated in a joint visit between the two religious symbols to the UAE and the signing of the Human Fraternity Document in Abu Dhabi in February 2019.

[yota691]

A historic event .. Najaf is awaiting the visit of Pope Francis to meet Sistani

 

France Press

06 March 2021

 

 

The Pope’s meeting with Sistani is one of the most important stops of his visit to Iraq.

On Saturday, Iraq awaits an unprecedented meeting between Pope Francis and the supreme Shiite authority, Ali al-Sistani, in Najaf, in one of the most important stops of the Pope's visit to the country.

After the Pope met the leaders of the Catholic sects in Baghdad on Friday, he reached out to Shiite Muslims by visiting Sistani, who never appears in public, at his modest home in the city of Najaf, 200 km south of Baghdad.

The two men will hold a closed meeting for an hour that comes two years after Pope Francis signed the "Document of Human Fraternity" with the Imam of Al-Azhar.

The media will not be allowed to attend the meeting, which starts at 8 am (06:00 GMT), but nevertheless it is a source of pride for many Shiites in a country that has been experiencing crises and conflicts for 40 years, including a bloody civil war between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

In some Najaf streets, paintings were erected with pictures of Pope Francis and Ayatollah Sistani, with the phrase "The Historical Encounter" in English.

Another dimension

The Shiite cleric, Muhammad Ali Bahr al-Ulum, told AFP that this visit is a source of "pride," adding, "We value this visit, which undoubtedly will give another dimension to Najaf."

And at Baghdad International Airport, where the Supreme Pontiff had landed on Friday, a large banner was raised in which a call to coexistence and interfaith dialogue included a quote from one of Imam Ali's famous sayings: "They are of two categories: either your brother in religion, or your peer in creation."

Sistani is the highest reference for the majority of the 200 million Shiites in the world, and Sistani, born in Iran, represents the Najaf authority, which supports the role of the reference as a consultant to politicians and not a decision, as opposed to the Qom reference in Iran, confirming that the clerics have a role in giving political directives similar to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.

The Spanish cadral, Miguel Angel Ayuso, who heads the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, believes that "the school of jurisprudence in Najaf is more secular than the school of Qom, which has a more religious orientation," adding that Najaf "gives more importance to the social dimension" as well.

External interests

Al-Sistani threw his weight in 2019 to topple the government at the time after months of demonstrations led by young people protesting corruption and the deterioration in social conditions in their country.

The Pope, like Sistani, tends to launch mostly political positions, but both of them adopt a balanced approach in launching such positions. 

In his Friday speech in Baghdad, the Pope touched on sensitive topics and issues from which Iraq suffers during his meeting with the Iraqi President, Barham Salih. And he said, "Let the weapons be silent! Let us put an end to their proliferation here and everywhere! And stop the special interests, the external interests that do not care about the local population. Let us listen to those who build and make peace!"

He added, "Stop violence, extremism, partisanship and intolerance! To give way to all citizens who want to build this country together in the neighborhood and in a frank, honest and constructive confrontation."

He also called for "tackling the scourge of corruption, abuse of power, and everything that is illegal."

The Pope's visit takes place amidst tight security measures, and in light of a complete closure caused by the high number of infections with the Coronavirus, with more than five thousand infections per day.

The Pope received an anti-virus vaccine, while Sistani's office did not indicate that he had received a vaccine from his side.

After Najaf, the Pope also heads south to Ur, the archaeological site believed to be the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham.

There, he will participate in joint prayers with Shiite and Sunni clerics, Yazidis and Sabeans.

 

[yota691]

A special meeting brings together Al-Halbousi and the Pope of the Vatican in Baghdad

 

 

Policy  Yesterday, 16:53  2 views

A short time ago, a special meeting took place between Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi and the Vatican Pope Francis, who arrived in Iraq on a three-day official visit.

Al-Halbousi media office said, in a brief statement, that an agency from Karbala reported that "a special meeting brought together Al-Halbousi and Pope Francis."

Earlier in the day, the plane carrying Pope Francis landed on Friday at Baghdad International Airport. Before that, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi arrived at Baghdad airport to receive Pope Francis.

[yota691]

Pope Francis meets top Shiite cleric on second day of historic Iraq visit

[yota691]

Pope Francis begins historic four-day visit to Iraq | The World

[yota691]

UNESCO: Iraq re-sits on the throne of history with the Abrahamic prayer in the land of Ur

•  Time: 03/06/2021 11:27:53
•  
•  Read: 2,834 times

  

{Follow-up: Al-Furat News} The United Nations UNESCO said today, Saturday, that the land of Iraq is on the throne of history, during a three-day visit by Pope Francis to Iraq.

On its Twitter page, the organization published a picture of the Ziggurat of Ur, commenting on it with the words: "This is the land of Iraq that sits on the throne of history."

The organization indicated in its tweet that "Ur is an archaeological site in southern Iraq, and it was a major religious, political and urban center, and it witnessed the origin of monumental writing and architecture."

"At this moment, Pope Francis is praying for all religions," she concluded.

Earlier in the day, the plane carrying Pope Francis landed at Nasiriyah airport, after concluding his visit to Najaf, and his meeting with the supreme religious authority, Sayyid Ali al-Sistani.

Hussein Hatem

[coorslite21]

8 minutes ago, yota691 said:

Pope Francis meets top Shiite cleric on second day of historic Iraq visit

Haven't heard much lately on the holy leaders of Iraq....CL

[yota691]

After meeting with Imam Sistani, he got to know the clerics who sat near the Pope in the historic Ur meeting

•  Time: 03/06/2021 17:10:31
•  
•  Read: 1,742 times

  

(Baghdad: Al Furat News) Pope Francis’s meeting in it with the supreme religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Imam Ali al-Sistani (may his shadow) in Najaf was the most prominent of the pontiff’s visit. The Pope landed in Ur, the symbolic site from the spiritual point of view. Terror that offends religion.

Visiting Ur, the archaeological site in southern Iraq believed to be the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham, was a dream of the former Pope John Paul II in 2000.
In his speech, which preceded prayers with representatives of Shiites, Sunnis, Yazidis, Sabeans, Kaka'is, and Zoroastrians, the Pope said, "He does not issue hostility, extremism and violence from A religious soul, but all this is a betrayal of religion. "

"We cannot be silent when terrorism offends religion. Rather, we have a duty to eliminate misunderstanding," he added.
During the memorial photos monitored by the lenses of the news agencies, what was remarkable was the wide presence of representatives of different religions, and the allocation of 4 seats to personalities who sat near the Pope, and they are: a
representative of the Yazidi ethnic religious minority in Iraq, Bish Imam Faruq, who is a member of the Yazidi Spiritual Council in Lalish (Northwest Mosul city). This is according to what was stated by the official for external relations in the Council of Yazidis of Syria, Adnan Jamil Rasul Hassan.

The head of the Sabean-Mandaean religion in Iraq and the world, Sheikh Sattar Jabbar al-Hilu.

Imam and preacher of the Great Mosque in Sulaymaniyah, Sheikh Majid Al-Hafiz (right), and the Secretary General of Al-Khoei Institute, Mr. Jawad Al-Khoei (left of the picture) 

In Ur, the Pope praised the Muslim youth for helping Christians reform their churches "when terror swept through the north of this beloved country."
ISIS terrorist gangs, who tried to establish a caliphate involving several countries, swept through northern Iraq from 2014 to 2017 and carried out killings of Christians and Muslims who opposed it.
Christianity in Iraq, which is one of the oldest societies in the world, has been particularly diminished, as it includes about 300 thousand people from about 1.5 million in 2003.
Although the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) is considered the father of Christians, Muslims and Jews, the interfaith encounter that It took place in Ur, not attended by any representative of the Jewish community. What is the reason?
According to the news sites, citing a local church official, the Jews were contacted and invited, but the situation for them was "complicated", especially as they do not have an organized community.
The city of Ur is one of the oldest historical monuments in the country, and it includes the Ziggurat of Ur, whose construction dates back more than 4,000 years, in Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq, and is to commemorate the greatness of the Sumerians during the period of the Third Dynasty of Ur, which Ur Nammu founded in the city located in the south of the country.
It is noteworthy that the ziggurat was destroyed during a period of its history, due to natural factors, before many aspects of it were restored during the reign of the Babylonian king Nabonidus, during the sixth century BC.
The Pope, who began his four-day visit to Iraq on Friday, is expected to lead a mass at St. Joseph's Cathedral for the Chaldeans at a later time.
On Sunday, the Pope will head to Mosul (in the north of the country), as churches and other buildings there are still bearing the scars of war.
Wafa Al-Fatlawi

[yota691]

After meeting with Pope and Sistani, Al-Kazemi designates the sixth of March of each year as a National Day of Tolerance

 

- 03-06-2021 03:44 PM - Readings: 4132

 

 

 

[yota691]

THE ARAB PARLIAMENT WELCOMES THE HISTORIC VISIT OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO IRAQ

06 Mar 2021

Baghdad-Al-Sharqiya, March 6: The Arab Parliament welcomed the historic visit of His Holiness Pope Francis of the Vatican to Iraq, praising His Holiness’s call to promote stability and peace in Iraq, whose brotherly people have suffered over the past years from the ravages of wars and crises. The Arab Parliament affirmed, in a statement, that the messages of solidarity, reconciliation, love, national unity, and other noble human meanings carried by this visit are of special importance in consolidating the values of coexistence between all Iraqi factions and sects, as well as enhancing security and stability and rejecting violence in all parts of Iraq. . He added that this exceptional visit, in its importance and timing, represents a true embodiment of the Human Fraternity Document signed between the Grand Imam, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Sheikh of Al-Azhar, and His Holiness Pope Francis of the Vatican in 2019.