On March 9, 2026, Cardinal Dominique Mathieu, archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan, Iran, told CathoBel (a Catholic website of his native Belgium) that he is safe in Rome after evacuation from Iran. He arrived in that city on March 8, “not without regret and sorrow for our brothers and sisters in Iran,” having been evacuated along with all the personnel of the Italian embassy in that country. The embassy is the seat of the archdiocese; the Cathedral of the Consolata, the archbishop’s residence, and the curial offices are all in the diplomatic compound.
“While waiting to return there, pray for the conversion of hearts to interior peace,” the 62-year-old cardinal told CathoBel. While in Rome, he is expected to report to the Holy See on the situation on the ground in Iran.
The cardinal’s whereabouts had been unknown to the public since Israel and the United States launched their military operation against Iran on February 28. At that time, the Iranian government cut off internet access almost completely. This left the world largely in the dark regarding the fate of people in that country, the cardinal included.
Catholics worldwide were concerned for his well-being, considering the dangers of both the bombing by the US and Israel and possible retaliation by the government against those considered allied with the West. In recent days, the cardinal’s religious community, the Conventual Franciscans, confirmed that they had been in contact with him, but no more details were publicly available.
A difficult mission
Roman Catholics are a tiny minority in Iran; there are at most a few thousand faithful in a country of more than 80 million people, the great majority being Shi’ite Muslims. Reportedly, since last year the cardinal had been serving all five parishes of the capital city on his own, without priests or deacons.
His creation as a cardinal in 2024 came in the midst of Pope Francis' policy of "reaching out to the peripheries" with his designation of the red hat. In particular, a cardinal in Iran was a sign of Rome’s interest in dialogue with Iran’s government, a task that has only been complicated by these armed conflicts.
Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians are recognized as official minorities under Iran’s 1979 constitution, which resulted from the Islamic revolution. However, the religious freedom of minorities has since then been severely limited. The year 2025 saw a “sharp escalation in repression,” according to Iran International. It cites a report by four rights groups, citing the number of 254 arrests of Christians in Iran, reflecting “a strategic shift by the Islamic Republic to use national security frameworks to crush religious dissent.”
The publication points to the 12-day war with Israel in 2025 as a “pivotal moment” that triggered reprisals against Christians, particularly converts from Islam. Given the obstacles to communication with people inside the country at present, it’s difficult to know whether the new military conflict is already causing the government to intensify its persecution of the few Christians and other religious minorities.
In the meantime, Christians around the world can only pray with Cardinal Mathieu for the peace and well-being of all those affected by this conflict.
