The last act of his visit to Iraq, the Pope celebrated an open-air mass in the stadium of Erbil, a city in the north of the country which served as a refuge in 2014 for the inhabitants of Mosul and the Nineveh plain then chased by the bands. Daesh armies.
To read also: Joseph Yacoub: "The Pope's trip to Iraq, a hope for Eastern Christians in the process of extinction"
As a last message addressed to the Iraqi Christian community which has lost two thirds of its faithful in less than twenty years but also to all the inhabitants of the country, Francis pleaded during his homily against the "
temptation
" of "
revenge
" urging them "
not to sink into a spiral of endless retaliation
".
In Iraq, he acknowledged, “
how many of your brothers and sisters, friends and fellow citizens bear the wounds of war and violence, visible and invisible wounds.
The temptation is therefore to answer them
”.
But it would be a "
trap
" warned François where it is "
easy to fall
": "
the trap of thinking that we must show others that we are strong, that we are wise ... In the trap of making ourselves false images of God who give us security
”.
In Iraq, how many of your brothers and sisters, friends and fellow citizens bear the wounds of war and violence, visible and invisible wounds?
It is even “
the opposite
” that must be practiced, launched the Jesuit Pope because Jesus “
did not want to do it by demonstrations of force or by imposing his voice from above, nor by long speeches or speeches. unparalleled displays of science.
He did this by giving his life on the cross
”revealing his“
power
”through“
mercy and forgiveness
”.
Christ, he added, “
strengthens us so that we know how to resist the temptation to seek revenge, which leads to a spiral of endless reprisals.
"
"A future of peace and fraternity"
This is how the Church asks her faithful to be "
patient and courageous artisans of a new social order
" because Christ "
sends us, not to proselytize, but as his missionary disciples, men and women. women, called to bear witness that the Gospel has the power to change lives
"by"
driving
"in particular"
from our hearts and from the Church harmful suggestions of power and money.
"
“
Jesus explained again, frees us in a way of understanding faith, family, community, which divides, which opposes, which excludes, so that we can build a Church and a society, open to all and caring for our most needy brothers and sisters.
"
For the head of the Catholic Church, there is no illusion in this project "
to breathe a future of peace and fraternity on this earth
" because "
the Lord promises us that, by the power of his Resurrection , it can raise us and our communities from the ruins caused by injustice, division, and hatred.
"