Together with Muslims, Jews, representatives of different Christian churches and other Iraqi religious minorities in the Iraqi city of Ur, Pope Francis prays for reconciliation, peace and strength to rebuild the devastated nation.
By Linda Bordoni
Pope Francis traveled south from Baghdad to the ancient city of Ur to hold a historic interfaith meeting on Saturday, the second day of his apostolic visit to Iraq.
The setting was rigid, but moving: a simple tent-like structure, with white curtains to protect participants from the sun, was installed next to Abraham’s house. In the background, the incredibly well-preserved remains of a 4,000-year-old Sumerian temple with an adjacent residential complex and palaces known as the Great Ziggurat of Ur.
After the meeting, the Pope gathered in prayer Muslims, Jews, representatives of Christian churches in Iraq and members of Iraqi religious minorities, including the Yazidis and Sabaeans, who together called on the Lord for peace, reconciliation and strength to reconstruct the conflict. devastated nation.
This is their prayer:
Almighty God, our Creator, you love our human family and all the work of your hands:
As children of Abraham, Jews, Christians and Muslims, together with other believers and all people of good will, we thank you for giving us Abraham, an illustrious son of this noble and beloved country, to be our common father in the faith.
We thank you for your example of a man of faith, who fully obeyed you, left your family, your tribe and your homeland behind and left for a land you did not know.
We are also grateful for the example of courage, resilience, strength of spirit, generosity and hospitality that our common father in the faith has given us.
We are especially grateful for your heroic faith, demonstrated by your willingness even to sacrifice your child in obedience to your command. We know that it was an extreme test, but from which he emerged victorious, because he trusted you without reservation, that you are merciful and always offers the possibility to start again.
We thank you because, in blessing our father Abraham, you made him a blessing to all peoples.
We ask you, the God of our father Abraham and our God, to grant us a strong faith, a faith abundant in good works, a faith that opens our hearts to you and to all our brothers; and a limitless hope, capable of discerning fidelity to your promises in all situations.
Make each of us a witness to your loving care for all, in particular refugees and displaced persons, widows and orphans, the poor and the sick.
Open our hearts to mutual forgiveness and thus make us instruments of reconciliation, builders of a more just and fraternal society.
Welcome to your home of peace and light all those who have died, especially the victims of violence and war.
Assist the authorities in the effort to search for and locate the victims of kidnapping and in a special way to protect women and children.
Help us to take care of the land, our common home, which in your kindness and generosity you have given to all of us.
Guide our hands in the reconstruction work of this country and grant us the necessary strength to help those who have been forced to leave their homes and lands, allowing them to return safely and with dignity, and to embark on a new, serene and prosperous life. A man.