Mar 11, 2021 rome bureau chief
Displaced Iraqi Christian boys, whose families fled religious persecution, serve Mass Dec. 24, 2017, at a Catholic church in Amman, Jordan. (Credit: Muhammad Hamed/Reuters via CNS.)
Imagine fleeing your home in the middle of the night to escape anti-Christian violence, spending years stranded as a refugee in a neighboring country, and watching the pope visit your home city.
ROME Imagine fleeing your home in the middle of the night to escape anti-Christian violence, spending years stranded as a refugee in a neighboring country, and watching the pope visit your home city.
“The pope’s visit to Iraq was a message of love and peace,” said Karmen, an Iraqi refugee that only provided her first name.
Iraqi Refugees Pleased With Pope s Visit, but Say They Still Won t Go Back
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Faith amid the ruins: Pope calls Iraqis to affirm kinship under one God
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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.