Iraqi Christians in Lebanon view Pope’s visit with mixed feelings

Rafed Sitto knows by heart the Pope’s program for the days to come. He is stuck to the tube this weekend with his wife Sandrine and his two children. “It would have been much nicer if he had visited our country in better times, when we were still living there and more Christians were living in Iraq,” says Sandrine.

Since the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, the number of Christians in Iraq has declined rapidly. Churches and villages have been wiped out by bombings or destroyed by ISIS. In 2003 there were approximately 1.5 million Christians in Iraq, now it is estimated that there are less than 300,000. Hundreds of thousands of Christians have immigrated to Europe and the United States. Others would like to, but have remained in Lebanon and Jordan, where their situation is often dire.

Shared feelings

This is also the case with the Chaldean Catholic family Sitto. With mixed feelings, they watch the traditional dance with which the Pope is greeted so festively. “These are our costumes for special occasions,” said Sandrine with tears in her eyes. “If only our country had always been so happy.”

The family fled Batnaya in northern Iraq in haste when ISIS took the area by force in 2014. Rafed’s family have lived in the village for centuries. When ISIS invaded, they did not have the chance to take their things with them. His car was stolen, their house was looted and razed.

“We had the choice to repent, to flee or not to survive,” Rafed said. “I got baptized, I made my first communion. I don’t want to repent.”

Via northern Iraq, the Sittos, like thousands of other Christian families, found themselves in Beirut in the hope of reaching the west by this route. “What we want is a safe life, somewhere where we can say and do whatever we want, that’s all,” Rafed says.

Economic crisis in Lebanon

Seven long years later, they are still in a poor Christian suburb of Beirut. The mattresses are against the wall in the only room where the four of them live. In the evening, they simply fit together on the floor. They tried to make a kitchenette in the hallway. Electricity is cut for hours every day. Due to the unprecedented economic crisis, there are no opportunities in Lebanon for people like Rafed and Sandrine.

“We’ve seen one after another go. Australia, America, Europe. But our papers are waiting. I don’t know why it’s all taking so long,” Rafed said. He says he knows hundreds of other families who are waiting for permission to move elsewhere.

Reach Australia

Their biggest dream is to reach Australia. Coincidentally, her mother and brother as well as Sandrine’s entire family were staying in Australia two years ago. Rafed: “In our village, we all lived together as a family in a big house. All generations together. Every day my mother calls us crying to ask us when we are coming. My brother says it is a stable life in Australia. Is children’s education and health care when you are sick. “

These are exactly the things that worry Rafed every day because he has no income. “We’ve barely been out of this room in a year. We’re afraid of getting sick. If either of us has anything, we’ve got a huge problem. We’ll die outside the hospital. Because we can’t we. allow, ”he said.

‘Going back is not an option’

“The Iraqis here come from the middle class. They had good jobs there, a good life. Now they have the chance to find a job as a cleaner or a janitor here, ”says Lebanese Nayla Frem Sayegh. Her organization, Berrad el Hay, provides hot meals every day and she has helped three Iraqis find work in her kitchen.

“We are also trying to help with medicine and education, but the demand is huge and there is little support,” she says. “The Iraqis are overwhelmed by the large number of Syrian refugees here. They have been forgotten and they are broken. They have given up hope because they have been disappointed so many times.”

On Rafed and Sandrine’s television, the Pope arrived at a church in Baghdad. “It’s nice to see, but going back is not an option for us,” Rafed concludes. He is sure that it is still not safe in his village. “The people from whom we fled are still active in the area. Besides, my house and the whole village are in ruins. How could we give our children a decent future there? There is no more room there. for us in Iraq. “

Still, Rafed thinks it’s good that the Pope is here now. “Soon there probably won’t be a Christian there.”