The Pope is set for a dramatic visit to Iraq — first time for a Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Catholic Church and at a time not just of terrorist dangers but also covid ones.
A major stop will be the city of Mosul, where a seer named Dina Basher had many encounters with Jesus and Mary, experiences that the local Chaldean patriarch confirmed as authentic [see below].
As it says in today’s Reuters: “In Mosul, adjacent to the Biblical city of Nineveh, four churches representing different denominations occupy a small square surrounded by low-rise houses, testament to the role Iraq’s once-flourishing Christian community played. Today, all four churches are either damaged or destroyed after Islamic State militants occupied the city from 2014-2017, desecrated many of the buildings, and used them to run its administration, including as a jail and a court. Airstrikes as Iraqi forces tried to dislodge the extremist group in fierce fighting did the rest. Those walls still standing are scarred with bullet and shrapnel holes.
“It used to be a bit like the Jerusalem of the Nineveh plains,” said Mosul and Akra’s Chaldean Archbishop Najeeb Michael of ‘Church Square,’ the name given to the site that Pope Francis will visit on March 7 during his historic trip to Iraq.”
We have reported previously on Basher, an Iraqi Catholic who, it is claimed, and as mentioned, had experienced apparitions of Christ and the Virgin.
She has not been heard from since the war after 9/11 and the horrid ISIS onslaught.
Her experiences began on the Feast of the Assumption in 1991 and developed in earnest during the fall of that same year, mainly near Mosul. We revisited the issue a while ago and culled additional details from taped amateur interviews. From them we learned that her ecstasies last anywhere from ten minutes to three or even six hours and in appearance brought to mind the apparitions in Kibeho, Rwanda.
She claimed that the Lord walked on a cloud about a meter high and took her to a place in Heaven, which Dina described as an “immense place with no limits or end.” Allegedly Dina saw many angels, describing one as appearing eight years old with short blond hair. She also had seen St. Paul, St. Peter, St. Thomas, and St. Andrew. Sometimes, during her ecstasies, she appeared in a crucified position. She said she was taken to Calvary by the Lord, Who told her: “You are to share in the Passion.”
She had also been “transported” to churches to “visit” and pray in them.
Her hands and sometimes her face exuded a mysterious, fragrant oil; the first time was September 29, 1991.
On one occasion, according to Church authorities, it occurred in Baghdad. After that came bleeding wounds (stigmata) which showed themselves in various places, including the Church of the Virgin Mary in Baghdad, where there have also been impressive healings.
Many witnessed her stigmata in a town called Mansur. Doctors studied the wounds, as did psychiatrists, who didn’t believe it’s a “psychic” condition, according to local bishops.
Brain tests and x-rays were normal, said authorities, who declared the happenings supernatural (at least in the case of her Patriarch and the Bishop of Baghdad). According to one prelate, the doctors saw Dina’s phenomena as something “beyond nature’s capability.” On one occasion she allegedly heard Satan ask if she would be able to endure the pains of Crucifixion, and the Lord say “Yes.” When Satan said he wanted to see, Dina supposedly participated in the Crucifixion, endured the pain, and afterward, standing with Christ, saw Satan “evaporate.”
After that, Dina said, she was taken to a large church where the Lord gave her Communion. These of course were ecstasies we submit for your own reckoning. We are attempting to discern this potentially important situation. We do not yet know what to make of some of her stronger claims, at least one of which appears apocalyptic, including the Second Coming. In Baghdad, three bishops saw blood mysteriously flow from her. A large wound, jagged and round, has appeared on her forehead.