Cardinal Dominique Mathieu, OFM Conv, the Belgian missionary cardinal archbishop of Tehran, left Iran with Italian embassy staff and arrived in Rome on March 8.
“I arrived in Rome yesterday, not without regret and sorrow for our brothers and sisters in Iran, as part of the complete evacuation of the Italian embassy, [where] the archdiocese [is located],” Cardinal Mathieu told a Belgian news agency on March 9. “Until I return there, pray for the conversion of hearts to inner peace.”