Pope Francis sent a message Saturday to Christians in Erbil, Iraq, to remain firm and unwavering in their faith in the face of persecution by Islamic State jihadists.
In a video message to Christians, delivered by French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the pontiff said, “Christians are being driven from the Middle East in suffering. I think of the wounds, the pain of the mothers with their children, the elderly and displaced persons, the wounds of those who are victims of any kind of violence.”
Thousands of Christians have taken refuge in Erbil since the fall of Mosul into the hands of the Islamic State in June, according to Al Arabiya . Since the conflict began, more than 250,000 Christians have fled Northern Iraq from ISIS persecution. Others have had to convert from Christianity to Islam as a means of preserving their lives.
The pontiff highlighted his concern not only for the lives and inhumane treatment of Christians in the region, but also for affected sacred buildings, monuments, religious symbols, and cultural heritage, stating it was as if extremist Muslims wanted to erase every trace and memory of Christianity.
Last weekend, Francis visited Turkey, where he met with Bartholomew I, the ecumenical patriarch and spiritual leader of the world’s some 250 million Orthodox Christians. The two clerics issued a joint statement, in which they spoke out against anti-Christian violence in the region.
“As I mentioned in Ankara… due to an extremist fundamentalist group, entire communities, especially, but not only, Christians and Yazidis, suffered, and still suffer, inhuman violence because of their ethnic religious identity,” the pope said Saturday.
During his visit, the pontiff issued an appeal to Muslim leaders to help put an end to anti-Christian violence, stating the violence only shed a damaging light on Islam, as reported by the Jerusalem Post .
“As religious leaders, we are obliged to denounce all violations of the dignity and rights of humanity,” Francis said.
The Pope has been diligently working on normalizing Christian Muslim relations , as reported previously by the Inquisitr .
On Thursday, Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s most prestigious center of learning, urged Christians in the Arab world to “stay rooted in their homelands” in the face of jihadist violence and not flee into exile, reported Al Arabiya .
“We condemn the forced exile of Christians and other religious or ethnic groups,” it said.
According to the Jerusalem Post , Francis called for a resolution to the conflict, and prayed for strength and continued resistance among Iraqi Christians in the face of persecution.
“And I strongly urge, as I did in Turkey, greater international collaboration to resolve the conflicts that cause blood to be shed in your lands of origin, to combat the other causes that lead people to leave their homelands and to promote suitable conditions for them to remain or return.” Francis said. “I hope that you will return, that you will be able to return.”
