Pope Francis said on Tuesday, Sept. 14, that the cross is not a flag to be waved, nor a political symbol. The pontiff’’s remarks were seen as a rebuke of populist politicians such as Matteo Salvini in Italy and Viktor Orban in Hungary using religious symbols as political tools.
Speaking in the place that was once the beating heart of Slovakia’s Jewish quarter, Pope Francis asked for Jews and Christians to work together so that the past is not forgotten, and religion doesn’t become irrelevant.
March 8 marks the end of Pope Francis’ emblematic trip to Iraq — it’s been filled with many firsts for the only pontiff to visit the Land of Abraham. There were places to go, people to meet, stories to tell and, of course, lessons on human fraternity to learn. Here’s a look at some of the highlights.
Although the impact of papal trips is often hard to assess in the immediate aftermath, such cautions mean little to the leader of Iraq’s local Catholic church, who quickly proclaimed Pope Francis’s March 5-8 visit to his nation a “miracle” on Sunday.
Pope Francis is set to become the first pontiff to set a foot in Iraq on March 5, when he lands in Baghdad after a four-hour trip from Rome.
Tomorrow Pope Francis leaves for Iraq, and in most of the Christian world it’ll be seen as a trip to honor the memory of a martyred Christian population that suffered unimaginable horrors under an ISIS occupation of the Nineveh Plains region of the country between 2014 and 2017.
Pope Francis hopes to embark on the first-ever papal visit to the biblical land of Iraq in early March in a spiritual pilgrimage of sorts to the place known in Arabic as the “land of the two rivers” — the mighty Tigris and Euphrates — and once renowned as Mesopotamia, the “cradle of civilization.”
Less than three weeks from Pope Francis’ highly anticipated trip to Iraq, the local government on Feb.14 announced new restrictions to try to curb the spread of COVID-19, which includes the closure of all houses of worship until the last day of his March 5-8 visit.
Despite renewed security concerns after a series of recent terrorist attacks, one of Iraq’s top prelates has said preparations for Pope Francis’ upcoming visit are still underway, calling it a sign of hope that peace is possible in the war-torn nation.
The head of the Chaldean Catholic Church issued a petition on Jan.14 calling on Iraqi Catholics to pray at Sunday Masses that Pope Francis will be able to visit their country for the upcoming papal trip in March.
