Biden: The visit sent an important message of brotherhood and peace
The Pope leaves Iraq after a historic visit
The Pope speaks to the media on the plane after the visit ends.
Reuters
Pope Francis left the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, yesterday, after a historic visit, which is the first for a great rabbi to Iraq.
US President Joe Biden praised the visit, saying it sent a "important" message of brotherhood and peace.
The Pope concluded the visit after he toured, since last Friday, between Baghdad, Erbil, Mosul and Qaraqosh in northern Iraq, which has suffered for years from the terrorist organization "ISIS", to cross a total of 1,445 km by plane, helicopter or armored car, accompanied by a large security escort.
In statements to the media, the Pope said that the visit to Iraq was more stressful than other visits.
The Pope began his tour by affirming that he comes "as a penitent who asks forgiveness from heaven and from brotherhood for the great destruction and cruelty of mankind", and "a pilgrim who brings peace."
At the end of the visit activities at a mass in Erbil, the Pope bid farewell to the Iraqis, saying, "Iraq will always remain with me and in my heart." He also visited Mosul the day before yesterday, where he prayed for the souls of the "war victims" in front of an ancient ruined church, and he also visited Qaraqosh, the Christian town to which all were displaced. Her family was under the control of the terrorist organization "ISIS". Some of them have returned during the past years, and he presided over a mass in the Great Church of the Great.
"The road to full recovery may still be long, but I ask you, please, not to despair," he said in a speech there.
On the second day of his historic visit, the Pope met in Najaf, the Shiite cleric, Ali al-Sistani, who declared his interest in the "security and peace" of Iraqi Christians, and in Ur, a symbolic site from the spiritual point of view, the Pope denounced "terrorism that offends religion."
US President Joe Biden praised Pope Francis' "historic" visit to Iraq, saying that it sent a "important" message of brotherhood and peace.
Biden said seeing Pope Francis visiting religious sites such as the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham, spending time with Sistani and praying in Mosul, is a symbol of hope for the entire world.
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