Fernando Filoni

"If we base coexistence on human rights, then we all have the same rights. The Middle East belongs to everyone because of its ancient culture and civilization. We are indebted to it. Also, from the Christian point of view, here took place Jesus’ life, that of the prophets, of the primitive Church that had great vitality for centuries. The Christian presence, even in its multiform expressions, is important. The logic of making these communities disappear is like making life disappear and preparing a desert, an impoverished environment. For millennia, the presence of so many religious, ethnic and cultural expressions has enriched this region. Of course, it is not like persecution never got the better of civil coexistence there in the past — far from it! But we ask ourselves: Must we continue with that logic? Have we learned nothing from history and from the suffering of millions of people? Is it still necessary to resort to the logic of oppression? Why should the riches of that region make envy, jealousy, oppression prevail instead of development, sharing and peaceful coexistence?"

"(About the 2025 papal conclave) The future nominations? You do that in the media and newspapers. We are not yet at the decision stage, we are still discussing. [Pope Francis] He was a free man who loved people and humanised the Church without desacralising it."

"After the great times of John Paul II, who gave us a vision of a universal Church capable of breaking down walls, and after Benedict XVI, who spoke to us about God in a profound and accessible way, Pope Francis has offered a synthesis of these two visions. I believe that we cannot fail to continue along this line. However, each Pope interprets Peter's mandate in his own original way, listening to his brothers gathered in the Conclave, who bring with them the experiences of their Churches and cultures. [...] The new pontiff will have to strengthen the unity of the Church. He will have to intensify ecumenical relations and interreligious dialogue. And then there is the methodology: the Church has walked on a path of synodality, collegiality and appreciation of episcopal conferences. I believe that this path must be consolidated. The new pope is called to walk among his people, but keeping in mind the realities of those who are ahead, those who are behind, and those who are on the right and on the left."

"(About the 2003 invasion of Iraq) Saddam Hussein was a Sunni, and the Sunni Islamic minority – a significant minority – effectively held power. The Shiites did not; on the contrary, they had been oppressed, especially in the centre and south. So when Saddam's regime fell, the first thing that happened was that the Shiites took power. As a result, between the allies who were advancing and bringing down the regime and the others who did not know how they would react, anarchy reigned. Every day there were attacks, not military ones, but by those seeking to seize power or take advantage of the situation to steal. It was a period of huge fires and casualties: just because someone was driving by, they would steal their car... There was chaos, no one knew who was in charge, the military and the police had disappeared, there was no authority of any kind to control the situation. Everyone remembers the looting of the ministries, except for one that was immediately guarded: the oil ministry. I remember well how one of the most terrible things was the looting of the museums, where thousands of works of art disappeared. Even the American military took them away, and in fact they were later found in their backpacks. The burning of the immense Library of Baghdad was also terrible. For two or three days, ash rained down on the city. It was an unacceptable destruction: to attack the libraries was to attack history, the life of a people, not to mention the fact that all of humanity was deprived of priceless treasures."