President Barzani, Pope stress importance of preserving peace, coexistence

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - President of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani on Thursday met with Pope Francis in Vatican City, stressing the need to preserve and promote peace and fraternity, also handing the pontiff a painting depicting the coexistence among the Region’s various components.

The President is currently conducting a visit to Italy and Vatican City, and is set to meet with a number of high-profile officials, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, amongst others.

The Pope “praised the culture of peaceful coexistence and acceptance among religious and ethnic communities” in the Kurdistan Region, calling for it to be safeguarded, according to a statement from The Kurdistan Region Presidency.

The President reiterated his commitment to promoting peace and coexistence in the Kurdistan Region and elsewhere.

President Barzani held an audience with the Vatican’s Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, discussing the status of all components in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, emphasizing the significance of Christians staying in the country.

Barzani said that “the Kurdistan Region wants Christians to remain in their ancestral homeland,” also stating that they stand ready to facilitate and help with the return of those who want to come back. 

The President also gifted Pope a painting by Kurdish artist Khairy Adam, depicting people from the Kurdistan Region’s different ethnicities and religions taking part in the traditional Kurdish dance of “Halparke”.

“What unites Kurds is culture, and Halparke is very rich in our culture,” Adam told Rudaw English on Thursday, adding “I chose Halparke to show that the different components in the Kurdistan Region enjoy freedom, and enjoy living here.”

The background of the painting depicts a mosque, a monastery, and a Yazidi temple, depicting the extent of brotherly relations between the various religions in the Kurdistan Region.

Adam is a graduate of the Institute of Fine Art in Duhok and the College of Fine Arts Salahaddin University in Erbil. He received his master’s degree in contemporary realism as a figurative artist from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA.

Another painting titled “The Dove as a Symbol of the Holy Spirit” by artist Shanaz Jamal was also gifted to the Pope. The painting is made from handmade Kurdish Jajim, woolen fabric, rubies, stones, and Kurdish clothing, all dating back to at least 70 years ago.

Jamal said the painting showcases that Kurdish culture promotes coexistence among all, regardless of ethnicities and religions.

Pope Francis conducted a historic visit to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in March 2021, visiting several cities across the country, and holding mass for 10,000 people in Erbil. The Pope also met Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who rarely accepts visitors, in Najaf.

When the Islamic State group (ISIS) seized control of vast swathes of northern Iraq in the summer of 2014, thousands of Iraqi Christians fled their homes, seeking shelter in the Kurdistan Region. Churches in Ainkawa took in many of their brethren before they were resettled in camps or emigrated abroad.

Iraq’s Christian community has been devastated in the past two decades. Following the US-led invasion in 2003, sectarian warfare prompted followers of Iraq’s multiple Christian denominations to flee, and attacks by ISIS in 2014 hit minority communities especially hard. According to data from Erbil’s Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda in 2021, there were more than one million Christians in Iraq before 2003. Fewer than 300,000 remain today.

Ainkawa, situated on the northern edge of Erbil, is home to a large Christian population, several churches, and a Catholic university.