The recent visit of Pope Francis to Iraq brought the attention of the world to a beleaguered community: Iraqi Christians. Iraq's Christians trace their origins back to the mists of antiquity in ancient Mesopotamia, having converted during the apostolic mission of St. Thomas, and lived through the Arab Conquest, the Ottoman Empire and the post-Great War British Mandate. However, Iraq's Christian communities have arguably endured the most difficult chapter of their history in the 21st century.
Following the US and British invasion of Iraq in 2003, Iraq's delicate ethnic and sectarian balance, previously held together under Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, fell to chaos. The invasion, ostensibly to destroy non-existent 'Weapons of Mass Destruction', unleashed a brutal civil war, with minorities such as the Chaldean Catholic Christians caught up in the crossfire. Since 2003, when they numbered some 1.5 million people, the population of Iraqi Christians has plummeted to some 250,000.
The persecution of Christians, as well as Yazidis, Shia and moderate Sunnis, intensified under the reign of the so-called Islamic State from 2014-2017. Hundreds of thousands of Christians fled from their heartland in the northern Iraqi region of Nineveh to Iraqi Kurdistan, or fled Iraq itself. Today, more Iraqi Christians reside in Michigan than in their historic homeland of Iraq.
With the defeat of ISIS, Iraq's dwindling Christian communities, mainly composed of Assyrians, Armenians and Chaldeans, were finally able to welcome the long awaited visit of the Bishop of Rome. For many in the West, it was the first time in decades that the world's media conveyed Iraq's diversity, authenticity and humanity.
Weam Namou, who lived in Baghdad until she was ten, was able to watch the visit with pride and hope from her newfound home in Detroit, Michigan. Immersed in the history, heritage and theology of her people, Weam and the Chaldean Catholics know perhaps more than anyone how politics, sectarianism and colonialism can distort the truth and cause untold harm and misery. Now, following the successful visit of the Pope to Iraq, Weam and her people hope to close the chapter of the past 18 years for good. With renewed confidence as they look to the future, the Chaldeans are eager to emerge from the fear of the past with pride, hope and optimism. Both in their ancient homeland of Mesopotamia and their new home in Michigan, their message to the world is one of remarkable resilience. Though challenges remain they are determined to say: we are here to stay.