Pope Benedict met with the Prime Minster of Iraq today. Thanks to the Ratzinger Fourm that has the pics and articles I am putting up. Also on that page there is a video link of the event. If there are more articles of interest especially from an Iraqi point of view I will update.It should be not noted That Pope Benedict was invited to Iraq and to come AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. That would be quite a trip. Also that an Iraqi politician is making this invite while American troops are still in Iraq is significant.This is the second Muslim majority country that Pope Benedict has been invited too in weeks. There could be some Papal tour/ trip if seized upon.
COMMUNIQUE FROM THE VATICAN PRESS OFFICE (translated by the Ratzinger Forum)
Today, at the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo, the Holy Father Benedict XVI met with His Excellency Nuri Kamel al-Maliki, Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq. Earlier, the Prime Minister met with the Secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who was accompanied by the Secretary for Relations with Froeign States, Mons. Dominique Mamberti.
The conversations which took place in an atmosphere of cordiality, allowed the participants to examine some fundamental aspects of the Iraqi situation, including its regional context. Particular attention was given to the issue of the great number of Iraqi refugees, within the country and outside it, who need assistance, particularly for an eventual return to their homes.
The participants renewed their condemnation of the violence that continues to strike different parts of the country almost daily, among them the Christian communities who strongly need much better security. It is the common wish that Iraq may find the way to peace and development through dialog and the collaboration of all ethnic and religious groups, including the minorities, with respect for their respective identities, so that in a spirit of reconciliation and the search for the common good, they may help in the moral and civic reconstruction of the country.
The importance of inter-religious dialog as a way to religious understanding and civil coexistence was emphasized. The Prime Minister extended an invitation to the Holy Father to visit Iraq.
Maliki invites Pope to visit Iraq to help peace
By Philip Pullella CASTEL GANDOLFO,
Italy, JULY 25 (Reuters) -
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki invited Pope Benedict on Friday to visit Iraq, saying it would help the process of reconciliation. Maliki, who met the pope for 20 minutes at the pontiff's summer residence, also denied in comments to reporters afterward that minority Christians were being persecuted by Muslims in Iraq.
"We renewed our invitation for his holiness to visit Iraq. He welcomed the invitation. And we hope that he will be making the visit as soon as he can," he said. "His visit would represent support for the efforts of love and peace in Iraq," he added. The late Pope John Paul wanted to visit Iraq in 2000 but was denied permission by the government of Saddam Hussein. Maliki said he and the pope also discussed the plight of minority Christians in Iraq and the prime minister urged those who had left after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 to return to help rebuild the country.
"I also appealed to His Holiness to encourage Christians who left the country to go back and be part of the social structure of Iraq again," he said. Many of Iraq's Christians have left the country, among the two million refugees who have fled to neighboring states. Iraq's small Christian minority has tried to keep out of the Shi'ite-Sunni sectarian violence that has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. But Christian clergy and churches have been targeted repeatedly by Sunni militant groups linked to Al Qaeda.
The Archbishop of Mosul of Iraq's largest Christian denomination, the Chaldean Catholics, was kidnapped in the northern city in February and found dead two weeks later. Maliki said the Pope understood the inter-religious situation in Iraq. "He expressed this by saying that bad people exist within all religions, whether Christians or Muslims," Maliki said. "This sound, realistic, objective understanding by His Holiness is the best answer to those who claim that Christians are persecuted in Iraq by Muslims," he said. A Vatican statement said Christian communities in Iraq "strongly feel the need for greater security" and that inter-religious dialogue would be important for the country's future.
Iraqi PM discusses Christian refugees with pope
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday discussed with Pope Benedict XVI the plight of the war-torn country's Christians, according to a Vatican statement. Maliki, who had a 20-minute meeting with the Pontiff at his Castel Gandolfo summer residence, also met other officials including Vatican secretary of state Tarcisio Bertone. They discussed the situation of "many refugees inside and outside the country who need help, in particular with regards to their return," said the statement.
The two men also issued a renewed condemnation of the continuing violence in Iraq, where Christian communities "strongly feel the need for greater security," it added. The Vatican hoped "that Iraq can find a path to peace and development through dialogue and cooperation with all ethnic and religious groups including minorities in respect of their respective identities," it said. Maliki, who met his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday, also invited the pope to visit Iraq.
In March, the body of Iraq's kidnapped Chaldean Catholic archbishop, Paulos Faraj Rahho, was found near the northern city of Mosul, prompting warnings of a mass exodus of Christians from Iraq. Iraq's Christians, with the Chaldean rite by far the largest community, were said to number as many as 800,000 before the US-led invasion. The number today is believed to have dropped to half that figure due to massive emigration. Associated with the "Crusader" invaders and regarded as well-off, they are often victims of sectarian violence, killings and kidnappings at the hands of both Sunni and Shiite Islamists, as well as criminal gangs.
On January 6, a series of bombs exploded outside churches and a monastery in Mosul, in an apparently coordinated attack that wounded four people and damaged buildings, as Christians celebrated Epiphany. Maliki was due to leave Italy and return to Iraq on Saturday.
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