Pope Francis left Iraq this morning completion of the first visit in the story of a pope in this country, who is regularly shaken by violence.
From Friday, the pope crossed Iraq, going from Baghdad to Mosul and Karakos, to the north, which is being razed by jihadists.
During his visit, the pope supported one of the oldest, but also the most scattered, Christian communities in the world, even before the great Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the religious reference authority of the majority of Shiite Muslims, according to APE-MPE. citing AFP.
“Iraq will always remain inside me, in my heart,” the 84-year-old pope said last night (March 7) after the service in which he attended the presence of thousands of worshipers at a stadium in Arbil, Iraqi Kurdistan.
He traveled 1,445 km by plane or helicopter
Pope Francis wanted to meet the Christians of Iraq – 1% of the population versus 6% 20 years ago – and dedicated his first trip abroad in 15 months to this Muslim-majority country.
Due to COVID-19, with the exception of the operation in Arbil, only a few hundred people could be gathered at each of its stations, and not the crowds that it usually greets when traveling around the world.
However, the pope covered 1,445 km in Iraq, most often by plane or helicopter to cross mainly by air and not by road zones in which jihadist nuclei are still hidden.
Addressing the people of Iraq, who declared victory over the Islamic State jihadist organization in late 2017, the Pope condemned “terrorism that abuses religion,” called for peace and unity in the Middle East, and called for peace. of the departure of Christians from the area, citing incalculable damage.
He also participated in a universal prayer with the different religions that have existed in Iraq for millennia, in Ur, the birthplace of Patriarch Abraham, the father of monotheistic religions.
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