TEHRAN -- The cultural and social deputy of the Organization of Endowments and Charitable Affairs has announced readiness to develop joint international endowment in a meeting with the Catholic archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan who is currently visiting Iran.
Gholamreza Adel on Tuesday paid a visit to the Latin Catholic Church on the eve of the new Christian year and met with Dominique Joseph Mathieu.
Adel felicitated the anniversary of the birth of Christ, saying the followers of Jesus Christ and other religions live a peaceful life all over the world and in Islamic Iran.
In Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, the situation however is not peaceful amid Israeli atrocities, he added.
“We are sad and wish that the Palestinian people, Muslims, Christians and Jews, live in peace and security as soon as possible.”
The official said there are approximately 100,000 mosques and 8,000 imamzadeh and religious places in Iran, which have a very good capacity for international charity and endowment cooperation.
“There are currently 200,000 medical, educational, and seminary endowments created by people based on a sense of cooperation and empathy among people,” he added.
Archbishop Mathieu touched on the Nativity and its choice as the New Year, saying Christmas is one of the religious holidays of the followers of Christianity.
“As we are all descendants of Prophet Ibrahim (AS), we hope to be able to nurture this love and strive to be better people and a better world,” he said.
The archbishop of the Latin Catholic Church of Iran said he was happy for being chosen by the Pope to come to Iran.
“I always pray for all our people and neighbors in Iran. Although we may have different views about Jesus Christ, we all believe in him as an important and influential person and it can make us have a better relationship with each other.”
Mathieu, originally from Belgium, was ordained as the archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan in February 2021.
“Going to Iran, you will find a Catholic community small in number and diversified in ritual tradition: alongside the Latins of whom you are pastor, you will find Armenians and Chaldeans, as well as brothers of other Christian confessions,” he was told during his consecration at the time.
The renamed Latin Catholic Archdiocese of Tehran-Isfahan has six parishes and around 2,000 Catholics. The see of Tehran-Isfahan had been vacant for six years after the retirement of Archbishop Ignazio Bedini, a Salesian from Italy.
Mathieu was sent on mission in 2013 to Lebanon. Pope Francis appointed him archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan on Jan. 8, 2021.
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