Zum Wegzug des KAICIID: Eine Provinz namens Österreich furche.at - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from furche.at Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
March 08, 2021
Pope Francis returned to Rome on March 8 after a historic 4-day visit to Iraq, which was highlighted by an inter-religious ceremony at Ur, the birthplace of the patriarch Abraham.
Before that meeting, which had been billed as a prayerful gathering of the “children of Abraham,” the Pope met with AyatollaySayyid al-Sistani, the leader of Iraq’s Shiite Muslims. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said that meeting was “an occasion for the Pope to thank Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani for speaking up… in defense of those most vulnerable and persecuted” during the years of violence in Iraq.
At the meeting in Ur, the Pope said: “Today we Jews, Christians, and Muslims, together with our brothers and sisters of our religions honor our father Abraham by doing as he did: we look up to heaven and we journey on earth.” In fact, however, despite the urgings of the Vatican, Iraqi organizers refused to allow a Jewish delegation to participate in the ceremony.
Cairo: Pope Francis is due to land in Iraq Friday on the first visit by the head of the Catholic Church to the Middle Eastern country long roiled by conflicts. The whirlwind four-day trip will take the 84-year-old pontiff to several sites in Iraq amid security and pandemic concerns.
The visit will be Francis’ first outside Italy in more than a year after previous foreign trips were cancelled due to the global pandemic. It is heralded as a visit of solidarity with and hope for Iraq’s minority Christians who have felt the impact of decades of wars, sectarian strife and atrocities by the Daesh terrorists.
Pope Francis prepares to visit Iraq s Christian s this weekend csmonitor.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from csmonitor.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.