Pope Francis releases dove of peace as he visits former ISIS stronghold Mosul
The Pope today released a dove of peace in the shattered ruins of Mosul, a former stronghold of murderous Islamic State.
And he called for Christians, Muslims and Yazidis who fled the carnage in Iraqi cities to offer forgiveness in the wake of the brutal regime’s reign of terror.
The 84-year-old visited Mosul on the last day of his historic visit to the country that has been ravaged by war.
Speaking in the shadow of four smashed churches, Pope Francis told the crowd: “How cruel it is that this country, the cradle of civilisation, should have been afflicted by so barbarous a blow, 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.”
Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, was at the heart of the IS caliphate and witnessed the worst of the group’s rule, including beheadings and mass killings.
It was liberated in July 2017 but few Christians have returned.
The Pope urged them to come back to help rebuild the community and restore the country’s “intricately designed carpet” of faith and ethnic groups.
He also highlighted the plight of the Yazidi minority, which was subjected to mass killings, abductions and sexual slavery at the hands of IS. Pope Francis was joined by The Reverend Raed Kallo, one of the few Christians now in Mosul.
He said: “My Muslim brothers received me after the liberation of the city with great hospitality and love.
“Today I live among two million Muslims who call me their Father Raed.”
Muslim head of the Independent Social and Cultural Council for the Families of Mosul, Gutayba Aagha, added: “I invite all our Christian brothers to return to this, their city, their properties and their businesses.”
The Pope later travelled 20 miles south east to the city of Qaraqosh, where bells rang out to greet him.
Speaking at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, restored after being devastated by IS, he said: “The road to a full recovery may still be long, but I ask you, please, not to grow discouraged. What is needed is the ability to forgive, but also the courage not to give up.”
The Pope then led a mass at a stadium in the city of Erbil.
He arrived in Iraq on Friday is due to return to Rome today.
Health experts fear the tour will lead to an surge in Covid-19 after large crowds gathered to greet the Pontiff. He and members of his delegation have been vaccinated but most Iraqis have not.
Not long ago it would have been unimaginable that a Pope would visit the battle-scarred Iraqi city of Mosul.
It was the fulcrum of Islamic State’s rule, where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced the Caliphate.
Where just not going along with ISIS could cost you your head, let alone being a Christian leader.
It is breath-taking that Pope Francis has made the Mosul visit and been elsewhere in Iraq.
Even with the many thousands of Iraqi and Kurdish troops securing his Iraq visits he is still in grave danger. ISIS is still present in areas like Mosul and still has supporters in the region.
Whether the visit will have a positive long-term effect for the region is hard to tell but it was a very bold initiative.
Iraq has two major problems: an ISIS resurgence and its Sunni followers and anti-western Shia militia, backed by Iran.
Pope Francis’s visit may calm both, offering comfort to Iraq’s remaining 250,000 Christians and encourage moderate Iraq’s Sunni and Shia Muslims to remain so.
His meeting with the reclusive Grand Ayatollah Ali-al-Sistani in Najaf, an iconic holy Iraqi city, was an amazing.
Surely it will also serve as a defiant gesture against those who want ISIS to raise its evil head again, the network’s ruthless leaders and Shia Iran’s aggressors.
Coalition commanders in Iraq are, however, braced for ISIS’s next move and another round of pro-Iranian militia attacks.
