Middle East Desk
Report
BAGHDAD: Muslim and Christian residents of Mosul told Pope Francis of their lives under the brutal rule of Islamic State on Sunday as the pontiff blessed their vow to rise up from ashes, telling them that “fraternity is more durable than fratricide.”
Francis, on a historic trip to Iraq, flew into Mosul by helicopter to encourage the binding of sectarian wounds and to pray for the dead of any religion. The 84-year-old pope walked past ruins of houses and churches to a square that was once the thriving centre of the old town. The northern city was occupied by IS from 2014 to 2017.
“Together we say no to fundamentalism. No to sectarianism and no to corruption,” the Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, Najeeb Michaeel, told the pope. Francis sat on a white chair surrounded by skeletons of buildings and dangling staircases. Mosul’s Old City is home to ancient churches and mosques that were destroyed in 2017 during the bloody battle by Iraqi forces and an international military coalition to drive out IS. Corruption and infighting among Iraqi politicians still slow efforts to rebuild Mosul.
