The enthusiasm in Erbil's Franso Hariri stadium was palpable. The 10,000 participants in the pope's final event in Iraq thanked him for his visit.<\/p>\n
This image of the Virgin Mary was visible on the stage. It was heavily damaged by ISIS fundamentalists.<\/p>\n
The pope thanked the Church in Iraq for announcing the wisdom of the cross in the midst of difficulties.<\/p>\n
POPE FRANCIS<\/strong> He said that during these days in the land of Abraham, he has heard voices of pain and anguish, but also of hope and comfort.<\/p>\n POPE FRANCIS<\/strong> Salam, Salam! Sukran! [Thank you.] God bless you all! May God bless Iraq! Allah ma'akum! [God be with you.]<\/p>\n This Mass was the final event in which Iraqis could see Pope Francis up close before he returns to Rome.<\/p>\n On his third day in Iraq, the pope became a dream come true for the Christian community: to see him walk through the streets of their destroyed cities, to listen to their stories and to feel his embrace as a sign that they are no longer alone.<\/p>\n Daniel D\u00edaz Vizzi<\/p>\n TR: CT<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" March 7, 2021. During his final Mass in Iraq, Pope Francis thanked the Church in Iraq for announcing the wisdom of the cross in the midst of difficulties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":14665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[],"acf":{"video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/JWdYH2IjNS4","video_descarga":"http:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/b12messastadioerbileng.mp4","international_url":"http:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/b12messastadioerbilint.mp4","type":"bn","newsletter":"si"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45555"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cMany of you have generously offered concrete help and solidarity to the poor and suffering. That is one of the reasons that led me to come as a pilgrim in your midst.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u201cIraq will always remain with me, in my heart. I ask all of you, dear brothers and sisters, to work together in unity for a future of peace and prosperity that leaves no one behind and discriminates against no one. I assure you of my prayers for this beloved country.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n