Pope appeals for protection for Iraqi civilians
trapped in war
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has appealed
for a concerted effort to protect Iraqi civilians who
are victims of the ongoing bloody war in their nation and he prayed in
particular for those who are trapped in the embattled city of Mosul.
Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition air strikes
are fighting to clear Islamic State militants from Iraq's second city
where the coalition allegedly had a role in a March bombing which killed over
200 people..
The Pope’s appeal came at the end of his
catechesis during the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square.
Expressing deep pain for the victims of the bloody conflict
in Iraq, Pope Francis appealed to all to make every possible effort to
protect civilians, which he said is an “imperative and urgent”
obbligation.
Encouraging the Iraqi people to pursue a path of unity
within respect for diversity, the Pope also asked for prayers for
reconciliation and harmony between the different ethnic groups that make up the
population.
In his catechesis the Pope encouraged Christians to always put their trust in God’s word, even at those times when hope seems humanly impossible.
In his catechesis the Pope encouraged Christians to always put their trust in God’s word, even at those times when hope seems humanly impossible.
Reflecting on St. Paul’s Letter to Romans in which he
presents Abraham not only as our father in faith, but also as our father in
hope, Francis said the reading helps us put the strong tie that exists between
faith and hope into focus.
He said that hoping against hope, Abraham trusted in God’s
promise that, despite his old age and that of Sarah his wife, he would become
the father of many nations.
“Great hope, he said, is rooted in faith”, that’s why it is
able to go beyond all human expectations.
“We must all pray to God, open our hearts and He will teach
us what hope is” he said.
Reminding those present that God promises to set us
free from sin and death by the power of Christ’s resurrection, Pope
Francis urged the faithful to place their certainties not so much in their own
capacities, but in the hope that derives from God’s promise of life.
Faith, he said, teaches us, to hope against hope by putting
our own trust in God’s word even at those times when hope seems humanly
impossible.
The Pope concluded urging believers to be confirmed in faith
and hope during this Lenten journey to Easter, and to accept the promise of new
life given us in the Lord’s resurrection.
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