by Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis expressed his fears over increasing violence in Iraq and prayed for peace and reconciliation in the country.

He also announced he would be visiting Albania Sept. 21 to encourage the Catholic minority there and the people “who long suffered as a result of the ideologies of the past.”

The one-day visit to Tirana will be Pope Francis’ first papal visit to a European nation and a nation where all religious practice was banned from 1967 to 1990. Persecution of the Church had become the norm when the Communist Party took control of the government in 1944.

The pope made his announcement after praying the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square June 15. He said he was following the news of increasing violence in Iraq “with deep concern.”

“I invite all of you to join me in prayer for the dear Iraqi nation, above all for the victims and for those who are suffering the consequences of the growing violence, most especially the many people, including many Christians, who had to leave their homes,” he said.

Pope Francis added that he hoped the whole country could enjoy “security, peace and a future of reconciliation and justice, where all Iraqis, whatever their religion, could build their nation together, creating a model of coexistence.”