{"id":166162,"date":"2021-02-23T22:41:38","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T03:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=166162"},"modified":"2021-02-23T22:43:56","modified_gmt":"2021-02-24T03:43:56","slug":"pope-francis-to-hold-interfaith-prayer-service-at-birthplace-of-abraham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pope-francis-to-hold-interfaith-prayer-service-at-birthplace-of-abraham\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis To Hold Interfaith Prayer Service At Birthplace Of Abraham"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpope-francis-to-hold-interfaith-prayer-service-at-birthplace-of-abraham%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=166162&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/pjimage-5-1200x720-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Pope Francis plans to hold an interfaith prayer ceremony next week amid the ruins of Ur, an ancient Mesopotamian city and the traditional birthplace of Abraham.<\/p>\n<p>In a service the Vatican has dubbed \u201cPrayer for the sons and daughters of Abraham,\u201d the pope will conduct a service promoting harmony between different religions and will be attended by\u00a0Christians, Muslims, Mandaean-Sabaeans, Yazidis, and other religious minorities in Iraq, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-pope-iraq-ur-preparations\/popes-visit-to-iraqi-ziggurat-to-bring-together-several-faiths-and-hopefully-lure-more-visitors-idUSKBN2AM0YN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Reuters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>WATCH:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Pope Francis is due to hold an inter-religious prayer service at the ancient Mesopotamian site of Ur when he visits Iraq next week, an event local archaeologists hope will draw renewed attention to the site <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/brFjXFsucE\">https:\/\/t.co\/brFjXFsucE<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PSfBpazaSh\">pic.twitter.com\/PSfBpazaSh<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Reuters (@Reuters) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Reuters\/status\/1363853550367956998?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 22, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Ur, which lies approximately 200 miles south of Baghdad, features as the historical home of Abraham, where he lived until God called him out of it, according to Genesis. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all claim Abraham as their father.<\/p>\n<p>The Great Ziggurat of Ur, the site\u2019s most prominent feature, was first constructed in the 21st century BC and was later rebuilt from the ruins of the original structure in the sixth century BC by a Neo-Babylonian king. Saddam Hussein was also adding reconstructions of his own to the facade.<\/p>\n<p>Nearby the ziggurat is a complex of brick structures dated to circa 1900 BC, including one that is billed as the traditional house of Abraham.<\/p>\n<p>Ali Kadhim Ghanim, the State Board for Antiquities and Heritage director for Ur, hopes Pope Francis\u2019 visit to the region will bring international attention to the fragile site, which was once a bustling tourist attraction until wars and political upheaval devastated the country\u2019s tourism industry.\u00a0\u201cNot only tourism, but we believe that there will be a Christian pilgrimage season,\u201d Ghanim said.<\/p>\n<p>Francis has held unprecedented interfaith ceremonies before. In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning to spread rapidly, he <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2014\/06\/08\/first-ever-jewish-muslim-christian-prayers-at-vatican\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">drew criticism<\/a> from ultra-conservative Catholic groups for holding an interfaith ceremony. One even accused him of associating with \u201cinfidels.\u201d As Reuters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-health-coronavirus-pope-prayer-idCAKBN22Q2KJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reported<\/a>, \u201cAnother influential traditionalist group, The Society of Saint Pius X, called the pope\u2019s promotion of the prayer day the \u2018poison fruit\u2019 of the Catholic Church\u2019s dialogue with Islam.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe there will be someone who will say \u2018This is religious relativism and it cannot be done,&#8217;\u201d Francis said in the homily at the time.\u00a0\u201cBut how can we not pray to the father of us all? Each one prays as they know how, as they are able to. We are not praying one against the other, one tradition against another \u2026 [but] as brothers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>When he visited Ground Zero in New York during his visit to the United States 2015, he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/acts-of-faith\/wp\/2015\/09\/25\/the-story-behind-pope-franciss-interfaith-service-at-ground-zero\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">participated in a ceremony<\/a>\u00a0that featured\u00a0\u201cmeditations on peace\u201d from Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Christian, and Buddhist leaders as well as a traditional Jewish prayer for the dead. The service ended with the Young People\u2019s Chorus of New York City singing \u201cLet There Be Peace On Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 2014, in a historical first, Francis <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2014\/06\/08\/first-ever-jewish-muslim-christian-prayers-at-vatican\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">permitted the recitation<\/a> of non-Christian prayers on the grounds of the Vatican, including recitations from the Quran.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong>: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/pope-francis-defends-blm-protests-denounces-anti-covid-lockdown-protests\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pope Francis Defends BLM Protests, Denounces Anti-COVID Lockdown Protests<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pope Francis plans to hold an interfaith prayer ceremony next week amid the ruins of Ur, an ancient Mesopotamian city and the traditional birthplace of Abraham. In a service the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2274090,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/pjimage-5-1200x720-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Pope Francis To Hold Interfaith Prayer Service At Birthplace Of Abraham","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-166162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/pjimage-5-1200x720-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Pope Francis To Hold Interfaith Prayer Service At Birthplace Of Abraham","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2274090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}