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catholicnewsherald.com | March 12, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD
Faith amid the ruins: Pope calls Iraqis to affirm kinship under one God CINDY WOODEN CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
CNS | VATICAN MEDIA VIA REUTERS
Pope Francis blesses a child as he greets people with disabilities during a visit to the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Qaraqosh, Iraq, March 7.
VATICAN CITY — 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. “If God is the God of love – for so He is – then it is wrong for us to hate our brothers and sisters.” Pope Francis’ visit began March 5 in Baghdad, where he met with government officials in the opulent presidential palace, once home to Saddam Hussein and then the headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition forces that invaded the country in 2003. Then the pope moved to the heart of his pilgrimage: visiting places of faith and suffering, bowing in tribute to the innocents who died and embracing survivors. He put the blame for the death and destruction squarely on the sinful human inclination to define some people as “us” and others as “them.” That inclination, which all believers must resist, explains why he told government officials
and civic leaders March 5, “I come as a penitent, asking forgiveness of heaven and my brothers and sisters for so much destruction and cruelty. I come as a pilgrim of peace in the name of Christ, the prince of peace.” During the trip, Pope Francis did not mention the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the toppling of the government. And, while he spoke of “terrorism” and war in reference to the 20142017 destruction wrought by Islamic State militants, he did not name the group until he was on the plane returning to Rome. Even then, his point was not to condemn IS, but to honor the Christians, Yazidis and Muslims who resisted their efforts to set up a twisted, narrow vision of an Islamic caliphate. “The life of Christians in Iraq is a difficult life, but not just the life of Christians. I just talked about the Yazidis and other religions that did not submit to the power of Daesh,” he told reporters, using the militants’ Arabic-language acronym. The resistance, he said, “gave them a very great strength.” The strength to move forward, to rebuild and to restore relationships of kinship and respect KINSHIP, SEE PAGE 21
