Kurdistan Region president asks Christians to stay in Iraq, hailing ‘beautiful tableau of diversity’

Halgurd Sherwani 2021/09/13 11:49

Mar Awa III (left), newly inaugurated Catholicos Patriarch the Assyrian Church of the East, shakes hands with Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, Sept. 13, 2021. (Photo: Kurdistan Region Presidency Media Office)

Kurdistan Mar Awa III Kurdistan Region Erbil Church Patriarch for the Assyrian Church of the East

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s President Nechirvan Barzani on Monday hailed the rich diversity of the region and asked Christians to stay for the sake of developing the country.

President Barzani made these remarks to a short press briefing after he had attended the consecration ceremony of the new Patriarch for the Assyrian Church of the East in Erbil.

The appointment of Mar Awa III as Patriarch of the Church was announced by a committee of top religious figures. His predecessor, Mar Gewargis III Sliwa, had resigned due to medical reasons.

The event was attended by President Barzani and other Kurdistan Regional Government officials, top religious figures from around the world, and foreign diplomats.

Born in 1974 in the United States, the new Patriarch will be the 122nd Catholicos Patriarch for the Church.

The consecration ceremony of Mar Awa III as the new Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Sept. 13, 2021. (Photo: Kurdistan Region Presidency Media Office)

The coexistence between all ethnicities and religious groups in Kurdistan Region is a “beautiful tableau,” Barzani said as he extended his warm congratulations to the new Patriarch at his inauguration.

“We hope they [Christians] stay in this country, so we can all serve and develop it,” the Kurdish president added.

In 2014, the Islamic State group attacked the Nineveh Plain in northern Iraq, home to many of Iraq’s Christian minority. Thousands of Christians fled their homes from the ISIS onslaughts and found sanctuary in the neighboring Kurdistan Region.

I attended the appointment ceremony of Mar Awa III as the new patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East today in Erbil. I wish him success with his new responsibilities and thank his predecessor, Mar Gewargis III, for his contribution and service. pic.twitter.com/MN2EPpr3Cy
— Nechirvan Barzani (@IKRPresident) September 13, 2021

In his recent visit to Nineveh Plain, French President Emmanuel Macron was told by Nicodemus Daoud Matti, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Mosul, how the Kurdistan Region sheltered the displaced Christians.

Mar Awa III, the new Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, is pictured while giving his inauguration remarks at St. Joseph the Baptist Cathedral in Erbil, Sept. 13, 2021. (Photo: Kurdistan Region Presidency Media Office)

In his March visit to Kurdistan Region, Pope Francis also told Kurdish leaders that the “Kurdistan Region is home to displaced Christians.”

Many of Iraq’s Christians have fled Iraq as a result of the widespread instability and numerous terrorist attacks that country has endured in recent decades.