VATICAN (CWNews.com) - The Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Raphael I Bidawid has welcomed the Pope's plan for a "spiritual" pilgrimage to Iraq, saying that it is "an expression of John Paul's love for the Iraqi people, who have been suffering for more than ten years in an unbearable situation." The Holy Father has indicated that he will make his "spiritual pilgrimage to Ur," the Chaldean home of the Biblical patriarch Abraham, on February 23. The Pope had been frustrated in his desire to make a physical pilgrimage to Ur because of political tensions surrounding the Iraqi site today.
The Chaldean patriarch also revealed that he will lead a pilgrimage of 1,000 Chaldean Catholics to Rome on March 18. And on February 23, as the Holy Father is making his own spiritual pilgrimage in a ceremony at the Vatican, the Chaldean Church will hold a special penitential service in the cathedral of St. Joseph in Baghdad.
Patriarch Raphael made his comments in an interview with the Fides news service. He told Fides: "We were always sure of the Pope's love and solidarity, but now we feel it even more strongly." He added that the Pope's plan for a private pilgrimage proves that his original desire to visit Iraq was "not political in any way, as some people had feared."
Catholic World News Service - Vatican Update