In the context of the twinning of the Diocese of Lyon (France) with that of Mosul (Iraq), Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, along with about one hundred faithful from Lyon are visiting currently with Christians from Mosul who are currently exiled to Erbil, located in Iraqi Kurdistan. This is the second such visit by the Archbishop of Lyon; the first such voyage took place last July.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I greet each and every one of you, together with Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, who once again brings you the concern and the love of the entire Church. I too would like to be there, but since I cannot make the trip, I do it in this way ... I am very close to you in these trying times. I said, upon my return from the trip to Turkey: Christians are being chased away from the Middle East, and made to suffer. I thank you for the witness that you are giving; there is so much suffering in your testimony. Thank you! Thank you so very much!
It seems that in that place, they don't want any Christians to exist, but you are giving witness to Christ.
I am thinking about the many wounds, about the suffering of mothers with their children, about the elderly and the displaced, about the wounds of all those who are victims of every kind of violence.
As I mentioned in Ankara, of particular concern is the fact that above all, because of the actions of one extremist and fundamentalist group, entire communities, especially - but not only - Christians and Yazidi have been forcibly removed from their homes, have had to abandon everything in order to save their lives and not deny their faith. The violence has also affected sacred buildings, monuments, religious symbols and cultural patrimony, as if to erase every trace, every memory of them.
As religious leaders, we have an obligation to denounce all violations of dignity and of human rights!
Today, I want to be close to you who endure this suffering, I want to be close ... And I think of Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus, who used to say that she and the Church felt like a rod: when winds and storms rise, the rod bends but does not break! In this moment, you are that rod, you bend in pain and suffering, but you have the strength to go on in faith, the faith which is a witness for us. You are God's rods today! Rods which may be lowered by this fierce wind, but which will rise again!
I want to thank you once again. I pray that the Spirit which makes all things new, will give each of you the strength you need to endure. This strength is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Together with you, I strongly urge, as I did in Turkey, a cooperated international effort to resolve the conflicts which are causing bloodshed in your homeland, to counteract the other efforts which cause people to leave their homelands and to promote conditions which make it possible for them to remain or to return. I hope that you will return, that you will be able to return.
Dear brothers and sisters, you are in my heart, in my prayer and in the hearts and prayers of the entire Christian community which I ask to pray especially for you on December 8, to ask Our Lady to watch over you: She is a mother who will always watch over you.
Brothers and sisters, your resistance is a martyrdom, dew which bears fruit. Please, I ask you to pray for me. May the Lord bless you and may Our Lady protect you.
May God bless you, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Video-message of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
addressed to the Iraqi refugees from Mosul
Dear brothers and sisters,
I greet each and every one of you, together with Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, who once again brings you the concern and the love of the entire Church. I too would like to be there, but since I cannot make the trip, I do it in this way ... I am very close to you in these trying times. I said, upon my return from the trip to Turkey: Christians are being chased away from the Middle East, and made to suffer. I thank you for the witness that you are giving; there is so much suffering in your testimony. Thank you! Thank you so very much!
It seems that in that place, they don't want any Christians to exist, but you are giving witness to Christ.
I am thinking about the many wounds, about the suffering of mothers with their children, about the elderly and the displaced, about the wounds of all those who are victims of every kind of violence.
As I mentioned in Ankara, of particular concern is the fact that above all, because of the actions of one extremist and fundamentalist group, entire communities, especially - but not only - Christians and Yazidi have been forcibly removed from their homes, have had to abandon everything in order to save their lives and not deny their faith. The violence has also affected sacred buildings, monuments, religious symbols and cultural patrimony, as if to erase every trace, every memory of them.
As religious leaders, we have an obligation to denounce all violations of dignity and of human rights!
Today, I want to be close to you who endure this suffering, I want to be close ... And I think of Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus, who used to say that she and the Church felt like a rod: when winds and storms rise, the rod bends but does not break! In this moment, you are that rod, you bend in pain and suffering, but you have the strength to go on in faith, the faith which is a witness for us. You are God's rods today! Rods which may be lowered by this fierce wind, but which will rise again!
I want to thank you once again. I pray that the Spirit which makes all things new, will give each of you the strength you need to endure. This strength is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Together with you, I strongly urge, as I did in Turkey, a cooperated international effort to resolve the conflicts which are causing bloodshed in your homeland, to counteract the other efforts which cause people to leave their homelands and to promote conditions which make it possible for them to remain or to return. I hope that you will return, that you will be able to return.
Dear brothers and sisters, you are in my heart, in my prayer and in the hearts and prayers of the entire Christian community which I ask to pray especially for you on December 8, to ask Our Lady to watch over you: She is a mother who will always watch over you.
Brothers and sisters, your resistance is a martyrdom, dew which bears fruit. Please, I ask you to pray for me. May the Lord bless you and may Our Lady protect you.
May God bless you, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
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