Appointment of “Dominique Mathieu” Archbishop of the Catholic Church in Iran as Cardinal
Pope Francis announced the appointment of “Dominique Mathieu,” Archbishop of the Catholic Church in Iran, as a Cardinal.
Pope Francis, leader of Catholics worldwide, announced the appointment of 21 new cardinals. In a message on Sunday, October 6, he stated that 21 new cardinals, including Dominique Mathieu, Archbishop of the Latin Catholic Church in Iran, will be appointed on December 8 during a ceremony.
Since cardinals hold the most important position in the Vatican and their council will elect the next pope, and this is also the first time the Vatican is appointing a cardinal for the Latin Catholic Church in Iran, the Pope stated in this regard: “These elected cardinals come from all over the world, and this demonstrates the universality of the Church, which proclaims God’s merciful love to all people.”
According to a report by the Belgian VRT website, Dominique Mathieu entered Belgium last week for a meeting with the Pope. “Chrit de Crupel,” spokesperson for Belgian bishops, described him during this meeting as a good and simple man with extensive pastoral experience in very diverse positions.
The newspaper “Libération Belgique” also wrote about this: “This is a strategic position in the Church’s geopolitics, and the appointment of Dominique Mathieu is significant and has the potential to strengthen the Vatican’s dialogue with Iran, especially within the current Middle Eastern context.”
The newspaper, while noting Dominique Mathieu’s mastery of five languages including Arabic, also wrote about his connections: “Dominique has always been interested in the subject of Islam and interfaith dialogue, and according to him, he lived for years in a neighborhood in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, where the majority of the population was Muslim, and he learned the basics of the Arabic language in a mosque in Brussels.”
The Vatican also announced in recent weeks: “Although Catholics are among the officially recognized minorities in Iran, the Iranian government controls their churches through CCTV cameras, and even the contents of their religious lessons are restricted, and Christian converts can be sentenced to more than ten years in prison.”
Given that in Iran’s Constitution, officially recognized minorities include Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians, the Islamic Republic government has closed Persian-speaking churches, and through attacks on Christian homes and house churches, has arrested and imprisoned Christians and those in contact with them, including Armenians and Assyrians.
