The relics of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus have been in Iraq since 20 November. They will remain there for five weeks, during which they will traverse the whole country, from Bassora in the deep south to Mosul in the north, and passing through Baghdad. The girl saint will celebrate Christmas in Iraq this year, as a sign of hope for the Christian minority. It is the 26th country that the little Carmelite sister from Normandy has visited since 1994. Her relics arrived in Baghdad aboard a special flight, thanks to the authorization of the UN. The plane flew in from Lebanon, where the relics were shown for 77 days. They were received at the airport of the Iraqi capital by a representative of the ministry of cults and by Msgr. Jean Sleiman, Latin-rite archbishop of Baghdad, in the presence of hundreds of devotees and under the strict control of the security forces. Accompanied by a Lebanese delegation, the relics were taken to the cathedral for a special mass of thanksgiving. In this country, which comprises a million and a half Christians, half of them of Chaldaean rite, the arrival of the relics of St. Theresa of Lisieux is a source of hope. After Iraq, St. Theresa will return to her hometown, but plans are afoot to send her on pilgrimage to the Indian ocean calling on Madagascar, Réunion, Mauritius and the Seychelles in April 2003.
