On Wednesday, March 8, 2017, HG Anba Antonios Metropolitan of the seat of Jerusalem and the Near East headed the Divine Liturgy at Sts. Mary and Paul church – Baghdad – Iraq. It is the first visit for Metropolitan of Jerusalem to Iraq in 23 years.
Fr. Mina Aloorchahlmy said: The high-level delegation, which is headed by Anba Antonios and include fathers from Jordan and Lebanon participated in the Divine Liturgy in the presence of Ambassador Alaa Moussa.
He added that the visit, lasts a week and began on Tuesday, include visiting Iraqi capital (Baghdad), where his grace will meet with President Fuad Masum and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, parliament speaker Saleem al-Jubouri, in addition to visiting Iraqi Kurdistan and meeting with Massoud Barzani.
He pointed out that the visit aim to inspect the conditions of Copts in Iraq and stand on their situation in Baghdad and Kurdistan region, and expressed his gratitude to ambassador Alaa Moussa, Iraqi Foreign Ministry and army and federal police forces for facilitating and securing the visit of the delegation.
