Pope’s Iraq visit an important step in promoting fraternity
The Higher Committee of Human Fraternity hails Pope Francis’ just-concluded Apostolic Journey to Iraq as a crucial moment for promoting tolerance, inclusiveness and human fraternity.
By Fr. Benedict Mayaki, SJ
Pope Francis’ historic Apostolic Journey to Iraq is “an important moment for the world and a true promotion of the values advocated by the document on human fraternity,” affirmed the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity in a statement.
The Higher Committee noted that during his four-day trip to the Middle Eastern nation, Pope Francis visited a number of Iraqi cities, including Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil and Mosul. The Pope also attended a meeting for interfaith dialogue in Ur and, in a speech there, emphasized the importance of promoting human fraternity and called on believers to revive the values of human fraternity.
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Pope Francis gestures as he boards a plane to depart for Rome, at Baghdad International Airport in Baghdad. Reuters
Cardinals and ranking Catholic clergymen board the Alitalia Airbus A330 aircraft as Pope Francis bids farewell to other bishops and Iraq s President Barham Saleh and his wife Sarbagh before departing from the Iraqi capital s Baghdad International. AFP
Iraq s President Barham Saleh and his wife Sarbagh escort Pope Francis during the farewell ceremony for the pontiff at the Iraqi capital s Baghdad International Airport. AFP
Pope Francis meets Abdullah Kurdi, father of little Alan, who was shipwrecked with his brother and mother on the Turkish coast in September 2015 while he was trying to reach Europe with his family, at the end of a Mass in the Erbil Stadium. EPA
Abdel Salam: Pope’s visit to Iraq significant for entire Arab region
On the eve of Pope Francis apostolic visit to Iraq, the secretary-general of the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity underscores the values of solidarity and coexistence emphasized by the Pope in his encyclical Fratelli tutti.
Vatican News
“His Holiness Pope Francis’s historic trip to ailing Iraq that has been suffering from wars, divisions, and terrorism for years, and the Pope’s insistence to support the Iraqi people despite the pandemic, constitute a clear sign of the humanitarian approach the Pope has adopted and to which he has dedicated his entire life.” This is the sentiment that Judge Mohamed Mahmoud Abdel Salam, the secretary-general of the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, expresses in a statement he released on Thursday. He makes his observation on the eve of the Pope’s 4-day apostolic journey to Iraq. According to Abdel Salem, it is “a visit that represents a real incarnation
By Junno Arocho Esteves
The world must begin to realize its shared humanity in order to live peacefully, otherwise it risks falling apart in endless conflicts, Pope Francis said.
“Today, there is no time for indifference,” the pope said Feb. 4 at a virtual event commemorating the first International Day of Human Fraternity.
“We cannot wash our hands of it, with distance, with disregard, with contempt. Either we are brothers and sisters or everything falls apart. It is the frontier, the frontier on which we have to build; it is the challenge of our century, it is the challenge of our time,” he said.