Appointment of Dominic Mathieu, Archbishop of the Catholic Church of Iran, as Cardinal

Pope Francis announced the appointment of Dominic Mathieu, Archbishop of the Catholic Church of Iran, as a cardinal.

Pope Francis, the leader of the world's Catholics, announced the appointment of 21 new cardinals. In a message on Sunday, October 6, he announced that the 21 new cardinals, including Dominic Mathieu, the Archbishop of the Latin Catholic Church in Iran, will be appointed in a ceremony on December 8.

Since the cardinals hold the most important position in the Vatican and their council will elect the next pope, it is also the first time that the Vatican has appointed a cardinal for the Latin Catholic Church in Iran. The Pope announced in this regard: "These elected cardinals come from all over the world, and this expresses 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 arrived in Belgium last week to meet with the Pope. Geert de Krepel, spokesman for the Belgian bishops, described Dominique Mathieu as a good and simple man, with extensive pastoral experience in a wide variety of situations.

The Belgian newspaper Laliberté also wrote: "This is a strategic position in the geopolitics of the Church, and the appointment of Dominic Mathieu is an important matter and has the potential to strengthen the Vatican's dialogue with Iran, especially in the current context of the Middle East."

The newspaper, while mentioning Dominic Mathieu's proficiency in five languages, including Arabic, also wrote about his connections: "Dominique has always been interested in the subject of Islam and interfaith dialogue. According to him, he lived for many 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: "Despite the fact that Catholics are among the recognized minorities in Iran, the Iranian government controls their churches through CCTV cameras, and even the content of their religious lessons is restricted, and Christian converts can be sentenced to more than ten years in prison."

Given that the Iranian constitution recognizes Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians as recognized minorities, the Islamic Republic government has closed Persian-language churches and, by attacking Christian homes and house churches, has arrested and imprisoned Christians and people associated with them, including Armenians and Assyrians.