Pope Francis calls on the international community to promote peace in Iraq and the Middle East

His Holiness Pope Francis, Pope of the Catholic Church, called yesterday on the international community to play a decisive role in promoting peace in Iraq and the entire Middle East.

"I am grateful for the opportunity to make this long-awaited visit to this land, the cradle of civilization," he said in a speech at the Baghdad Palace, where the official reception ceremony took place.

"Over the past decades, Iraq has suffered from the disasters of wars and the scourge of terrorism, and from conflicts that have brought death and destruction," he added.

He pointed out that humanity should "draw lessons from ethnic, religious and cultural diversity."

He pointed out that the growing challenges invite the entire human family to cooperate on a global scale to confront inequality in the field of economy and regional tensions that threaten the stability of these countries.

For his part, the Iraqi President, Barham Salih, said that the Iraqi people are victims of absurd wars during which hundreds of thousands of Iraqis of various religions have been executed and disappeared.

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