Historic visit of Pope Francis to Iraq

 Baghdad, Iraq Friday March 5, 2021; The Holy Father received the “Gloves of Peace” from the Iraqi boxer Riyadh Al-Azzawi Ambassador of the WBC and the program Boxing with Values

Today, his Holiness Pope Francis arrived to Iraq, in what constitutes a historic visit,  as it is the first time that a Pope travels to this country, where he will meet with the Christian, as well as with the Islamic Shiite community.

During his visit, Pope Francis will meet with the Shiite leader, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali-Husaymi Al Sistani, to sign a special document highlighting  Human Fraternity and World Peace. The Holy Father has always reiterated his commitment to build bridges between all religions, and above all, to bring a message of hope to young Iraqis, who have had to overcome many difficulties, from poverty, war and even the division of their families.

In this historic meeting, the BoxVal program of the Scholas Foundation and the World Boxing Council, was present through its Ambassador, the world kickboxing champion Riyadh Al-Azzawi. “The Golden Champion”, as this legend of the sport in Iraq is known, presented the Holy Father with the “Gloves of Peace”, as a symbol of BoxVal’s commitment to continue its task of promoting universal values through the sport, regardless of religion, race or color.

Likewise, the champion Riyadh Al-Azzawi presented on behalf of the entire Iraqi boxing community and the WBC in the Middle East, a commemorative plaque where one of the emblematic phrases of the Holy Father is read: “May sports always promote culture encounter.”

World Presidents of Scholas Ocurrentes, José María del Corral and Enrique Palmeyro worked hard with the President of the WBC, Mauricio Sulaiman to achieve this first step in the formation of the Box Val program in Iraq, which will be supervised by the WBC Middle East Federation led by Amir Khan.

As Pope Francis has repeated, crises force us to learn, to grow, the moments in which we feel fear make us spread our wings and search for a new horizon. This is how Scholas was born out of a world crisis, where it was necessary to go out and listen to the hearts of young people, to understand their desires, their concerns in order to face and build a new reality.

One of the most anticipated moments of this visit by Pope Francis will be when he arrives to Ur, in order to celebrate a joint prayer with Muslims, Yazidis and Sabae, in a gesture of unified  religion.