IRAQI AMBASSADOR COMMENTS ON MALIKI'S MEETING WITH THE POPE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 VATICAN 000060 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/4/2028 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PREF KIRF IZ VT SUBJECT: IRAQI AMBASSADOR COMMENTS ON MALIKI'S MEETING WITH THE POPE REF: A) BAGHDAD 2398 VATICAN 00000060 001.2 OF 003 CLASSIFIED BY: RFOLEY, A/DCM. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) Summary: During his recent meeting with the Pope and with Holy See Secretary of State Bertone, Maliki both recognized the need and committed to protect and assist Christians in Iraq. The Pope also asked Maliki to assist Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons. In a separate meeting, Bertone asked for better security and the inclusion of Christians in the police. His deputy raised the issue of the return of property belonging to Christians. Bertone deferred to the Iraqis on the future administrative and political organization of their territory, while calling for the rights of Christians to be recognized throughout the country. ¶2. (C) Summary continued: Maliki visited the tomb of John Paul II but avoided being photographed to prevent criticism at home. Chaldean communities in Europe welcomed Maliki's visit but were distressed that the Prime Minister urged governments and the Holy See to tell refugees to return. End of Summary. ¶3. (C) A/DCM met on July 30 with the Iraqi Ambassador to the Holy See, Albert Yelda, to discuss Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki's July 24 and 25 visit to the Vatican. A/DCM later met with the Rome representative of the Chaldean Church, Monsignor Philip Najim, to obtain his impression of the visit as well as that of Chaldean communities in Europe. Pope concerned for plight of Christians and refugees -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Maliki's private meeting with the Pope on July 25 lasted for about 20 minutes. Yelda said that the Pope raised his concern for the plight of Christians in Iraq, and for the needs of all refugees and internally displaced persons. Prime Minister Maliki invited the Pope to visit Iraq. Yelda said that Maliki was very satisfied with the meeting and got a very positive impression of the Pope for his kindness and cordiality. Following the meeting the Holy See issued a press release (see last paragraph for Post's translation of the release). Bertone asks for security, Mamberti raises property -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) Prior to his meeting with the Pope, Maliki met for about 45 minutes with the Holy See's Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and with his deputy, Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti. Also present at that meeting was Ambassador Yelda and other members of Maliki's delegation. ¶6. (C) Yelda said that the generally mild Cardinal Bertone spoke in uncharacteristically strong terms about the need to protect Iraqi Christians and to include them in the security forces. Regarding the establishment of a province or region for Iraqi Christians, Bertone said that the Holy See would be satisfied with whatever peaceful arrangements the Christian communities and the government of Iraq would find acceptable. He added that the Holy See would like to see the rights of Iraqi Christians respected wherever they are, not just in areas where they may achieve some level of self-administration. (Note: Bertone's message would seem to indicate that the Holy See incorporated in their own briefing documents our recommendation to underline to Maliki the need to bring Christians into the security forces and to stress that minorities are an essential part of Iraqi's social and political fabric. End note.) ¶7. (C) Yelda stated that a less than eloquent Archbishop Mamberti spoke about the need to protect the property of Iraqi Christians, and to return property that displaced Christians have lost. Maliki, who was briefly taken aback by Mamberti's request, assured him that the government of Iraq was not taking away property from Christians. Mamberti clarified that he was speaking in general terms about the properties of displaced Christians. Maliki assured Bertone and Mamberti that the government was ready to assist and financially support the return of displaced Iraqis. Maliki also asked that the Holy See encourage Iraqi refugees to return. Maliki visits Pope John Paul II's tomb -------------- ¶8. (C) Yelda, who is an Assyrian Christian, said that he convinced Maliki to pay a visit to Saint Peter's Basilica and the tomb of Pope John Paul II, located in the Basilica's crypt. The visit took place on July 24, a day before Maliki's meeting with Pope Benedict and Bertone at the Pope's summer residence in Castel Gandolfo (about 13 miles from Rome). ¶9. (C) According to Yelda, Maliki readily agreed to the visit, but insisted that there be no press and no photographs, as he did not want critics at home --particularly Sunnis who scoff at Shia traditions of pilgrimages to the burial sites of Imams-- to VATICAN 00000060 002.2 OF 003 polemicize this gesture. Even without pictures, Yelda thought that having Maliki visit the tomb was an important and symbolically powerful sign of respect for all Christians. Chaldeans in Europe concerned about pressure to return -------------- -------------- ¶10. (C) Monsignor Najim, who oversees the pastoral needs of Chaldean parishes in Europe as the Rome-based representative of Patriarch Delly, told the A/DCM that he was happy with what he had heard about the visit. While Najim was in Denmark when Maliki met the Pope and was not involved in the visit, he stated that he was glad that Benedict could personally ask the Iraqi Prime Minister to protect Iraqi Christians and assist refugees. ¶11. (C) Najim was critical of what he saw as Maliki's advocacy for an end to refugee protection for Iraqis in European countries. Chaldean communities, he said, were distressed by this message, which he thought was unhelpful and premature. Najim added that Iraqi Embassies and consulates were not doing anything for Iraqi refugees, citing as an example the long waiting period to obtain the new machine-readable passport outside Iraq, which many countries (including the US) now require for travel. Najim said that some European countries were already closing the door to new Iraqi refugees, and that he did not know of any family currently in Europe willing to return, at least for the time being. He did think, however, that a longer period of security would lead to a greater number of returnees. ¶12. (C) Ambassador Yelda also commented on Maliki's ministers' notion that the Pope could command Iraqi Christians to return, which he said evidenced their misunderstanding of the workings of the Catholic Church and the role of the Pope. Yelda was pessimistic about the future of Christians in Iraq and the Middle East: "once upon a time" --he said-- "the British protected the Christians in the Middle East. Now, no one does". Yelda attributed this to what he sees as the relentless pressure of Saudi-supported "Wahabism". (Note: Yelda, who in the past was part of the Iraqi opposition in exile in London, maintains that Saudi Arabia is a much bigger threat to Iraq than Iran, and that Shiaism, with its "Vatican-like" formal hierarchy, allows for the possibility of a fruitful dialogue, while the way to deal with "Sunni radicals" is to demonstrate strength, not "appeasement". End note.) A Christian homeland -------------- ¶13. (C) Najim was pleased with what he was told Bertone had said about allowing Iraqis to decide the future form of the Iraqi state. For Najim, this is a positive change from what he took as the Vatican's over-reaching opposition to the notion of a Christian homeland. Najim said that previous statements on the part of Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, the Prefect of the Congregation for Oriental Churches, critically referring to the establishment of a Christian homeland in Ninewa as "the ghettoization of Christians in Iraq" were misguided and unfortunate. (Note: Sandri oversees the operations of the largely-autonomous eastern-rite churches, including the Chaldean Church. He had also criticized the notion of having European governments give preferential treatment to Iraqi Christian refugees seeking political asylum. End note.) ¶14. (C) Najim implied that those in favor and against "a Christian homeland" now understood each other better. Najim, himself a proponent of an autonomous region, agrees with Bertone in underlining that Christians in Iraq should have rights regardless of where they live. Najim sees a homeland as a safeguard when those rights are not respected, and also as a way of addressing a current need in an area --Ninewa-- where there are already large numbers of Christians. (Comment: While Bertone did not speak against the Christian homeland notion in his meeting with Maliki, the Holy See remains skeptical that such a plan is viable. End comment.) ¶15. (C) Yelda noted that the Iraqi constitution already allows for the possibility of establishing something that would look like a Christian province (albeit not an autonomous region). Yelda himself believes that an autonomous Christian region is unachievable, but understands that some political leaders will want to formally lay out that option, as an aspirational goal, in a constitutional amendment. He added that the Chaldean bishop of San Diego, Sarhad Yawsip Jammo, is one of the main advocates of an autonomous homeland (Note: In Europe, Chaldean communities are under the jurisdiction of Latin-rite European bishops. In the US, there are two Chaldean bishops, one in San Diego and another one in Detroit. End note.) Comment -------------- ¶16. (C) Maliki's meeting with the Pope has advanced the goal of VATICAN 00000060 003.2 OF 003 a plural and tolerant Iraq by further impressing upon the Government of Iraq the importance that the Holy See (and by extension Catholics in particular, and many Christians in general) attaches to the plight of Christians in the region. On the negative side, both Yelda and Najim's analysis, albeit positive on the visit itself, reveal a persistent, underlying pessimism for the future of Christians in Iraq. End comment. ¶17. Below is the text of post's translation of the press release issued by the Holy See on July 25. Begin text: HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE RELEASE Today, at the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo, the Holy Father Benedict XVI received in audience His Excellency, Mr. Nouri Kamel Al-Maliki, Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq. The Prime Minster met earlier with the Most Eminent Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. The Most Excellent Secretary for Relations with States also attended that meeting. The discussions, which took place in an atmosphere of cordiality, enabled the parties to examine some fundamental aspects of the situation in Iraq, while also taking into consideration the regional context. Particular attention was paid to the subject of the large number of Iraqi refugees - inside and outside of the country - who require help, also taking into account a hoped for return to their homeland. The parties reaffirmed their condemnation of the violence that almost on a daily basis continues to strike different regions of the country, not sparing the Christian communities who have a strongly-felt need for greater security. The parties expressed the hope that Iraq would embark on the path of peace and development through dialogue and collaboration among all the ethnic and religious groups, including minorities, so that with respect for their respective identities, and in a spirit of reconciliation and a desire for the common good, they will together achieve the moral and civil reconstruction of the country. The importance of inter-religious dialogue as a means toward religious understanding and civil coexistence was also emphasized. The Prime Minster invited the Holy Father to visit Iraq. End Text. GLENDON