United by 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 raw but poignant: a simple tent-like structure with white curtains to protect participants from the sun was set up next to Abraham’s house. In the background, the incredibly well-preserved remains of a 4,000-year-old Sumerian temple, with a residential complex and adjacent palaces known as the Great Ziggurat of Ur.
After the meeting, the Pope met in prayer together Muslims, Jews, representatives of the Christian churches of Iraq and members of Iraqi religious minorities, including Yazidis and Sabeans, who together invoked the Lord for peace, reconciliation and the strength to rebuild conflict. devastated nation.
This is his prayer:
Almighty God, our Creator, you love our human family and all the works of your hands:
As children of Abraham, Jews, Christians, and Muslims, along with other believers and all people of good will, we thank you for giving us Abraham, a distinguished son of this noble and beloved country, for being our common father in the faith.
We thank you for your example as a man of faith, who completely obeyed you, left behind his family, his tribe and his homeland and marched to a land he did not know.
We also thank you for the example of courage, endurance, strength of spirit, generosity, and hospitality provided to us by our common father of faith.
We especially thank him for his heroic faith, demonstrated by his willingness even to sacrifice his son by obeying his orders. We know that this was an extreme test, but from which it emerged victorious, as it unreservedly trusted you, that you are merciful and always offer the possibility to start again.
We thank him because, in blessing our father Abraham, he has made him a blessing to all peoples.
We ask you, God of our father Abraham and our God, to give us a strong faith, a faith that abounds in good works, a faith that opens our hearts to you and to all our brothers and sisters; and an unlimited hope capable of discerning in any situation your fidelity to your promises.
Make each of us a witness to your loving care for everyone, especially refugees and displaced persons, widows and orphans, the poor and the sick.
Open your heart to mutual forgiveness and thus become instruments of reconciliation, builders of a more just and fraternal society.
Welcome to your residence of peace and light to all those who have died, in particular the victims of violence and war.
Assist the authorities in the effort to search for and find the victims of the abduction and especially protect women and children.
Help us to take care of the land, our common home, which for your kindness and generosity you have given us all.
Guide our hands in the work of rebuilding this country and grant us the strength to help those who are forced to leave their homes and lands behind, allowing them to return safely and with dignity and start a new life, serene and prosperous. Amen.