Vatican City, Oct 23, 2016 / 06:24 am (CNA/EWTN News).- With the Iraqi Army currently embroiled in an effort to liberate Mosul and the Plains of Nineveh from the Islamic State, Pope Francis Sunday offered prayers for an end to violence in the country so it can move forward on the path of hope and reconciliation.
“In these dramatic hours, I am close to the people of Iraq, in particular those from the city of Mosul,” the Pope said Oct. 23.
“Our hearts are shocked by the heinous acts of violence that for too long are being committed against innocent citizens, whether they are Muslims, Christians or whether they belong to other ethnic groups and religions,” he said, and voiced his sadness that many have been killed “in cold blood,” including children.
This cruelty “makes us cry, leaving us without words,” he said, assuring of his prayers that despite it’s suffering, Iraq “may be strong and firm in the hope of moving toward a future of security, reconciliation and of peace.”
“For this I ask all of you to unite yourselves to my prayer,” he said, and led pilgrims in a moment of silent prayer.
Pope Francis spoke to some 50,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday Angelus address. His appeal coincided with an ongoing operation by Iraqi and Kurdish military forces to retake the city of Mosul from the hands of the Islamic State.
On Oct. 17 Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced a ground offensive to retake Mosul, which has been months in the making. Mosul has been under the control of the Islamic State since June 2014.
In addition to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, U.S. troops, British and French Special Forces, and a number of Turkish soldiers are supporting the Iraqi army in the battle, which was initially expected to take between several weeks to several months to complete, however, the process has been going quicker than expected.
Mosul is the last major stronghold the Islamic State has in Iraq. They have been steadily retreating since the end of last year in battles against Iraqi and Peshmerga forces, as well as airstrikes from the U.S-led coalition.
The United Nations has warned ISIS is using civilians as human shields in the fight for Mosul, estimating that the militants have so far taken roughly 550 families from smaller towns close to Mosul in an effort to prevent them from leaving the area.
According to CNN, just withing the past few days 285 men and boys have already been used by ISIS as human shields, and their bodies dumped in a mass grave.
In his address, the Pope pointed to the Apostle Paul as a model for evangelizing in today’s world, reminding us that we must engage in missionary and pastoral activities with a spirit of sacrifice “as if the result depends on our efforts,” without, however, forgetting that our true success “is a gift of grace.”
“It’s the Holy Spirit who renders the mission of the Church in the world effective,” he said, stressing that “today is a time of mission and a time of courage!”
Courage, he said, “to strengthen faltering steps, to resume the flavor of spending oneself for the Gospel, to regain confidence in the strength that the mission brings with it. It’s a time of courage, even if having courage doesn’t mean having the guarantee of success.”
The Pope said we are being asked to have the courage “to fight, not necessarily to win; to announce, not necessarily to convert.”
We are being asked for the courage “to be an alternative to the world, but without ever becoming polemic or aggressive,” and to be courageous in opening ourselves to everyone, “without ever belittling the absoluteness and uniqueness of Christ, the one Savior of all.”
Francis emphasized the need to be courageous in resisting incredulity “without being arrogant,” and to mimic the attitude of the publican in the Gospel, “who in humility does not even raise his eyes to heaven, but beats his breast, saying ‘Oh God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’”
“Today is a time of courage! Today courage is needed!” he said, and closed his address by praying that Mary would intercede for all in becoming “missionary disciples who bring the message of salvation to the entire human family.”
Article Archive
As battle for Mosul rages, Pope appeals for an end to violence in Iraq
Related Articles • More Articles
Palma il Giovane (1550-1628), "Portrait of Pope Pius V." / Credit: Public DomainNational Catholic Register, Apr 30, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).Michele Ghislieri, later St. Pius V, was born in Bosco, northern Italy, in 1504 and ordained a Dominican priest in 1528. Recognizing his holiness and learning, his community elected him prior four times.During Pius' lifetime, the Protestant ideas of Luther and Calvin were dissolving Catholic unity throughout Europe. In 1542, Pope Paul IV reorganized the Roman Inquisition to combat them and named Pius an inquisitor. In 1555, the newly elected Pope Pius IV made Pius bishop and later cardinal of Nepi and Sutri, a diocese near Rome, and general inquisitor of all Christendom (with authority over all other inquisitors).Throughout his life, Pius devoted much time to prayer and practiced severe personal penances. He disliked public life and involvement in the governance of the Church, preferring the peace of the cloister, but relented when he saw tha...
Father David Waller will become the first bishop Ordinary of the Ordinariate. / Credit: Courtesy photo / Bishop's Conference of England and WalesNational Catholic Register, Apr 29, 2024 / 18:45 pm (CNA).The Vatican has announced a new leader of the ordinariate in Great Britain.Father David Waller, 62, a parish priest and vicar general of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, will replace Monsignor Keith Newton, 72, who is retiring after serving over 13 years as the ordinary of the ecclesiastical structure for former Anglicans.In a statement, Newton called the Vatican's April 29 announcement "momentous" given that Waller, who is a celibate, will become the first bishop ordinary of the ordinariate. As someone who was already married as an Anglican clergyman before entering the Church through the ordinariate, Newton was not allowed episcopal consecration.Established by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011 through his 2009 apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, the ordin...
Landscape view of Sacrofano, Italy, north of Rome. / Credit: Dmitry Taranets/ShutterstockRome Newsroom, Apr 29, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).The World Meeting of Parish Priests for the Synod opened on Monday to discuss "how to be a synodal local Church in mission," allowing priests from around the world to discuss questions raised during the ongoing synod and share their personal pastoral experiences. The four-day meeting, which is taking place from April 29 to May 2 at the Fraterna Domus retreat house in Sacrofano, Italy, just north of Rome, is attended by about 300 priests from around the globe and is divided into several sessions, taking cues from different themes and questions raised in the synod's synthesis report. "The parish priest is a man of the people and for the people. Like Jesus, he is open to the crowd, constantly open to the crowd, to help each and every one understand that they are a letter from Christ," said Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Gen...