On March 11, 2026, Pope Leo XIV received Cardinal Dominique Mathieu, Archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan, Iran, who arrived in Rome after leaving Iran the previous week. After staying in the Iranian capital for nearly a week despite Israeli and American strikes, the Belgian Conventual Franciscan was evacuated alongside Italian embassy staff.
In the Vatican, a source explained to the I.MEDIA agency that the situation in which Cardinal Mathieu finds himself differs from that of Church leaders in Iraq or Syria, where bishops often remain in place despite the conflicts. Indeed, as almost all of the Catholic faithful in the Latin Rite diocese of Iran are expatriates, the vast majority of them fled the country after the war began.
Before the conflict began, there were only an estimated few thousand Latin Rite Catholics in Iran, at most. Although there are considerably more Chaldean and Armenian Catholics, the total Catholic population is estimated at only around 20,000 in a country of more than 80 million people, the vast majority Muslims.
He was evacuated along with all the personnel of the Italian embassy in that country. The archdiocesan offices exist within the embassy; the Cathedral of the Consolata, the archbishop’s residence, and the curial offices are all in the diplomatic compound.
Evacuation with the Italian diplomatic corps
At the head of Iran's tiny Catholic community since 2021, in an archdiocese with no Latin priests, Cardinal Mathieu was in Tehran on February 28 when Israeli and American strikes began hitting the city. He was able to leave the country with the entire Italian diplomatic corps, as the Consolata Cathedral and the archbishopric are located on the grounds of the Italian embassy.
The evacuation, coordinated by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, took place on March 5 via Azerbaijan. According to the Belgian Catholic media outlet Cathobel, the cardinal finally arrived in Rome on March 8. (The cardinal is a native of Belgium).
A Vatican source also indicated that Indian Father Sebastian Febin, chargé d'affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature and the Holy See's sole diplomatic representative in Iran in the absence of a nuncio, had been recalled to Rome to report on the situation. He will return to Tehran “as soon as the situation allows.”
See brief video from Rome Reports below.
