{"id":191589,"date":"2021-03-05T18:31:21","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T23:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=191589"},"modified":"2021-03-05T18:31:24","modified_gmt":"2021-03-05T23:31:24","slug":"pope-francis-visits-iraq-encourages-minority-christian-population","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pope-francis-visits-iraq-encourages-minority-christian-population\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis Visits Iraq, Encourages Minority Christian Population"},"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\">16<\/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-visits-iraq-encourages-minority-christian-population%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=191589&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\/03\/FB1B25F1-F68F-4D2F-9B53-CA4DB3A4F6DB_1_201_a.jpeg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>On Friday, Pope Francis became the first pope to ever visit the country of Iraq. The pope took the opportunity to uplift members of the Christian community, and also called on people of different faiths to come together. He and his traveling group were all vaccinated from COVID-19 and the trip marks the first time the pope has traveled since the pandemic began last year.<\/p>\n<p>As reported by the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/pope-francis-arrives-iraq-ca6f3bcfe979bbaf399e15d9d614b25a\">Associated Press<\/a>, the pope\u2019s main goal of the trip was \u201cto encourage Iraq\u2019s dwindling Christian population, which was violently persecuted by the Islamic State group and still faces discrimination by the Muslim majority, to stay and help rebuild the country devastated by wars and strife.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In his welcoming <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/pope-francis-arrives-iraq-ca6f3bcfe979bbaf399e15d9d614b25a\">address<\/a>, Pope Francis told Iraqi officials, \u201cOnly if we learn to look beyond our differences and see each other as members of the same human family \u2026 will we be able to begin an effective process of rebuilding and leave to future generations a better, more just and more humane world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the first day of his visit, the pope stressed the importance of interfaith communities working together, especially religious minority groups. At a palace in Baghdad, the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/pope-francis-arrives-iraq-ca6f3bcfe979bbaf399e15d9d614b25a\">AP<\/a> reports, \u201cFrancis said Christians and other minorities in Iraq deserve the same rights and protections as the Shiite Muslim majority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said, \u201cThe religious, cultural and ethnic diversity that has been a hallmark of Iraqi society for millennia is a precious resource on which to draw, not an obstacle to eliminate \u2026 Iraq today is called to show everyone, especially in the Middle East, that diversity, instead of giving rise to conflict, should lead to harmonious cooperation in the life of society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>President Barham Salih is a member of the ethnic Kurdish minority in Iraq and reportedly agreed with the pope\u2019s statements. \u201cThe East cannot be imagined without Christians,\u201d Salih said. \u201cThe continued migration of Christians from the countries of the east will have dire consequences for the ability of the people from the same region to live together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/03\/05\/middleeast\/iraq-pope-francis-visit-arrival-baghdad-intl\/index.html\">CNN<\/a>, the pope told members of the media on his papal plane, \u201cI am happy to start trips again and this is a symbolic trip. It\u2019s a duty \u2026 It has been a martyred land for too long.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a speech reported by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-middle-east-56282598\">BBC<\/a>, Pope Francis said, \u201cMay the clash of arms be silenced \u2026 may there be an end to acts of violence and extremism, factions and intolerance!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He went on, \u201cIraq has suffered the disastrous effects of wars, the scourge of terrorism and sectarian conflicts often grounded in a fundamentalism incapable of accepting the peaceful coexistence of different ethnic and religious groups.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He addressed the Christian population, as well, saying, \u201cThe age-old presence of Christians in this land, and their contributions to the life of the nation, constitute a rich heritage that they wish to continue to place at the service of all.\u201d He said that the diversity of the country was a \u201cprecious resource on which to draw, not an obstacle to eliminate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pope Francis will not have as much time with the general population due to concerns over his security and a rise in COVID-19 cases. He plans to visit Qaraqosh, however, where Christians have reportedly gone back to since the Islamic State was defeated in 2017.<\/p>\n<p><em><span>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<\/span><\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><span><em>member<\/em><\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Friday, Pope Francis became the first pope to ever visit the country of Iraq. The pope took the opportunity to uplift members of the Christian community, and also called &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2274871,"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\/03\/FB1B25F1-F68F-4D2F-9B53-CA4DB3A4F6DB_1_201_a.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Pope Francis Visits Iraq, Encourages Minority Christian Population","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FB1B25F1-F68F-4D2F-9B53-CA4DB3A4F6DB_1_201_a.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Pope Francis Visits Iraq, Encourages Minority Christian Population","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191589","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=191589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2274871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}