BAHDIDA / Iraq /, March 7. / TASS /. Pope Francis prayed for the victims of war and terrorism in the Iraqi city of Mosul, which for three years (2014-2017) was in the hands of militants of the Islamic State terrorist organization (IS, banned in the Russian Federation). The ceremony took place on Sunday in the square where four Christian churches have been seriously injured at the hands of extremists, the TASS correspondent reports.
“Today we pray together for all the victims of the war, asking God to accept them in heaven. We, people, have often forgotten about the peace and harmony ordained by God. We did not raise our hands to heaven, and a piercing cry about the spilled innocent blood sounded again on earth.” – Dad said.
“Today, in spite of everything, we clearly demonstrate our coexistence in a brotherhood that is stronger than fratricide, as hope is stronger than death, and peace is stronger than war. This conviction is stronger than hatred and violence and will never again be drowned in the blood shed by those who, who, under the name of God, bring destruction, “said Francis. He pointed out that the persecution of Christians in the Middle East caused irreparable damage to the entire society.
The Pontiff noted “how cruel it is that the country, the cradle of civilization, fell into a storm of atrocities.” “Ancient religious buildings were destroyed, thousands of people – Muslims, Christians, Yezidis – were swallowed up by terrorism, expelled from their homes and killed,” the pontiff added.
A Sunni and a Chaldean Catholic priest testified before the Pope.
In Mosul, one of the oldest cities in the world, before the arrival of IS, representatives of different religions – Muslims, Christians and Yezidis, as well as Christians who were subjected to atrocities by Islamists – lived peacefully together. In the square where the Pope opened the memorial plaque, there are Syro-Catholic, Syro-Jacobite Orthodox, Chaldean and Armenian Orthodox churches. The latter depicts a map of Armenia, on which Nagorno-Karabakh is especially highlighted. The ceremony was attended by Christians who returned to the region after the expulsion of IS, as well as Muslims.
