Pope Francis speaks while seated on the podium at the square near the ruins of the Syriac Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception (al-Tahira-l-Kubra), in the old city of Iraq s northern Mosul on March 7, 2021. | AFP via Getty Images/ZAID AL-OBEIDI
Pope Francis visited the ruins of Mosul and a Christian community damaged by the Islamic State during the third day of his historic visit to Iraq Sunday. The day earlier, the pontiff visited the birthplace of Abraham, met with a prominent Shia cleric and gave a sermon in Baghdad.
“How cruel it is that this country, the cradle of civilization, should have been afflicted by so barbarous a blow, with ancient places of worship destroyed,” the 84-year-old pope said Sunday, according to Reuters, as he met with Muslim and Christian residents in a destroyed portion of Mosul Sunday.
Faith amid the ruins: Pope calls Iraqis to affirm kinship under one God
Children are seen near an image of Pope Francis during the pope s visit with the community at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Qaraqosh, Iraq, March 7, 2021. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
By Cindy Wooden • Catholic News Service • Posted March 9, 2021
VATICAN CITY (CNS) Pope Francis summarized his “pilgrimage of faith and penitence” to Iraq in a prayer:
“If God is the God of life for so he is then it is wrong for us to kill our brothers and sisters in his name.
“If God is the God of peace for so he is then it is wrong for us to wage war in his name.
Pope Francis visited the ruins of Mosul and a Christian community damaged by the Islamic State during the third day of his historic visit to Iraq Sunday. The day earlier, the pontiff visited the birth place of Abraham, met with a prominent Shia cleric and gave a sermon in Baghdad.
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