Pope Francis urged Christians in Iraq to forgive Muslim extremists who did injustices against them and to help rebuild as he met with ecstatic crowds at the Islamic State on Sunday.
The pontiff has visited the wrecked shells of churches in the community’s historic heartland, which was nearly erased by the Islamic State group’s horrific reign, as part of his four-day visit to Iraq.
“Fraternity is more durable than fratricide, hope is more powerful than hatred, peace more powerful than war,” he said during prayers for the dead in the city of Mosul, and calls for tolerance.
“The road to a full recovery may still be long, but I ask you, please, not to grow discouraged,” Pope Francis pleaded to a packed Church of the Immaculate Conception.
“What is needed is the ability to forgive, but also the courage not to give up.”
The pope decided not to use his prepared speech to emphasize the plight of Iraq’s Yazidi minority, which was subjected to mass killings, abductions, and sexual slavery at the hands of IS.
“How cruel it is that this country, the cradle of civilization, should have been afflicted by so barbarous a blow,” he said, “with ancient places of worship destroyed and many thousands of people – Muslims, Christians, Yazidis — who were cruelly annihilated by terrorism and others forcibly displaced or killed.”
The pope met with the country’s most influential Shiite Muslim leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and aims to build bridges between Christians and Muslims.
Sistani is one of the world’s most prominent Islamic religious leaders, who command almost universal respect across sects and political factions in the country.
The two religious leaders invoked religion for the cause of peace and protection of the vulnerable, including the beleaguered Christian minority in Iraq.
“It’s historic,” said Baghdad-based analyst Sajad Jiyad.
“For Shiite Muslims, it’s important to see one of their leaders recognized on a global stage.”