Eleven years have passed since the meeting with the Pope: What do we say today amid the noise of war?

On March 5, 2015, this photo was taken which I look back on today, namely eleven years later. On that day I had the honor to celebrate Holy Mass with Pope Francis at the chapel of Domus Sanctae Marthae in Vatican City. It was a meeting simple in appearance, yet profound in meaning. It contained prayers and hopes of many people from our region who, at that time, were enduring the hardship of displacement and violence.

After the Mass, I presented His Holiness with a painting made in cooperation with Caritas Jordan. It was painted by a displaced Iraqi man, where the artwork expressed the painful exodus from the city of Mosul. It is a painting that reflected the human tragedy experienced by thousands of innocent people who were forced to abandon their homes and lands to escape the brutality of ISIS. That painter later left for Australia with his mother, carrying with him memories of pain but also the hope of beginning a new life somewhere else.

During that meeting, Pope Francis listened to a message from the forcibly displaced Iraqis, who arrived in Jordan, which expressed their gratitude for his prayers, his positions, and his continuous efforts to defend the displaced and the persecuted. Their words were simple, yet sincere, which incorporated the suffering of a people and their clinging to hope.

Eleven years later, I look again at this photo and ask myself, “What would we say today to Pope Francis who is now in the life beyond, to his successor Pope Leo XIV, and to all people of goodwill around the world?

What can we say amid the roaring of sirens, the sound of rockets, aircraft, and drones? What can we say in a time when violence and hatred continue to intensify, and when wars extend further to affect the peoples of the entire region?

What would we say to those stranded in airports and at borders? What would we say to families who are still waiting for reassuring news or a safe path forward? What would we say at a moment when the future appears uncertain, while some world leaders attempt to redraw its maps according to their interests, even as entire peoples suffer and pay the price of these conflicts?

In recent years, our region has witnessed successive waves of migration and forcible displacement. Many found temporary refuge in other countries, especially dear Jordan which has come to be known worldwide as “a host country”, yet their hearts remain tied to their homelands. Many still await the day they can return to their homes and their lands, even if the waiting grows long and hope sometimes grows weary.

Amid all these crises, the central issue of our region is the question of Palestine and Jerusalem which remain without a just and genuine solution. Wise political leaders have often said, including King Abdullah II of Jordan, that peace in Jerusalem is “the key to peace in the entire world.”

The question that arises nowadays is: Will the world listen to the voices of peoples that call for an end to wars? Will the communities of this region be able to focus on building real human development that serves all their inhabitants?

How can we give the youth of this region the opportunity to work and to live with dignity in a stable environment?  How can we allow its children to grow up while holding dreams of the future in their minds rather than memories of fear and destruction?

The children of this land deserve to love and to take their first steps in a world that exudes further justice and peace, namely a world where the sounds of rockets are no longer heard, but instead the sounds of life and hope emerge… and the sounds of a true peace that begins with respect for human dignity… a peace in our region that begins in Gaza and extends across this weary land that deserves to live in peace.