Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter's Square during the Wednesday general audience May 28, 2014. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.
Posted on 07/21/2014 2:53:11 PM PDT by NYer
.- In his weekly Sunday Angelus address Pope Francis mourned the fleeing of the last Christians from the Iraqi city of Mosul, who were told by ISIS forces last week to either convert, pay the Jizya tax or leave.
“They are persecuted; our brothers are persecuted, they are driven out, they have to leave their houses without having the possibility of taking anything with them,” Pope Francis voiced in his July 20 Angelus address.
“I want to express my closeness and my constant prayer to these families and these people,” he continued. “Dear brothers and sisters who are so persecuted, I know how much you suffer, I know that you are stripped of everything. I am with you in the faith of the one who has conquered evil!”
Members of ISIS, a militant group that operates in Iraq and Syria with the aim of establishing a caliphate in northern Syria and Iraq, overtook the country’s second-largest city, Mosul and the city of Tikrit, 95 miles north of Baghdad, June 10.
The group had seized portions of Ramadi and Falluja earlier; Tal Afar was seized by ISIS June 16; and the group briefly held parts of Baquba, 37 miles outside of Baghdad, the following day.
ISIS currently controls much of the Sunni areas of northern and western Iraq, as well as cities along the Euphrates river in northwest Syria.
Thursday the self-proclaimed Islamic Caliphate declared to the remaining Christian community of Mosul that they either needed to openly convert to Islam, pay an unspecified jizya tax in exchange for their safety while observing certain conditions, or leave their homes with only their clothes, nothing more.
Following Thursday’s declaration, the houses of Mosul Christians were marked with an “N,” signifying “Nazarenes.” As a result, the few remaining Christians have left, marking the first time in history the city has been without Christians.
Pope Francis encouraged those gathered in St. Peter’s Square as well as those watching on television to pray for “the situations of tension and conflict that persist in different parts of the world, especially in the Middle East and in Ukraine.”
“The God of peace will awaken in all the authentic desire for dialogue and reconciliation. Violence will not win over violence. Violence is won over by peace!” he said, and led the pilgrims in a moment of silent prayer.
During his address before the traditional Marian prayer, the Roman Pontiff recounted the parable of the day’s Gospel, in which the owner of a field plants wheat, but one of his enemies comes during the night and plants weeds in the field as well.
Observing how the Hebrew root for the word “enemy” used in scripture is the same as that of “Satan,” the Pope described how the name gives the connotation of division, and explained that the devil “always seeks to divide individuals, families, nations and peoples.”
Observing how there is a twofold meaning to the parable, the pontiff noted that first of all it reveals to us that “the evil in the world does not come from God, but from his enemy, the devil.”
Another lesson we learn is when we look at “the contradiction between the impatience of the servants and the patience of the owner of the field, who represents God,” he continued, referring to how the servants wanted to burn all the weeds, but the field owner instead waited and had the wheat and weeds grow together so that he could save the good seeds later.
“Sometimes we are very quick to judge, classify, put the good over here, the bad over there,” the Bishop of Rome noted, stating that instead “God knows how to wait. God is patient” and “waits with heart in hand in order to welcome, to forgive. He always forgives if we go to him.”
Going on, the Pope drew attention to the attitude of the field owner, saying that it is that of the hope founded on the certainty that evil will have neither the first nor the last word.”
“It is thanks to this patient hope of God that the same weed, which is the evil heart with many sins, in the end can become wheat,” he said, “But be attentive: evangelical patience is not an indifference to evil; we cannot confuse good and evil!”
“In front of the weeds present in the world the disciple of the Lord is called to imitate the patience of God, and nourish the hope of the ultimate good, which is God.”
Concluding his address, Pope Francis explained that “we will be judged with the same measure we have judged others.”
“The mercy that we have shown to others will also be shown to us,” he stated, and prayed that Mary, “our Mother,” help us “to grow in patience, in hope and in mercy with all of our brothers.”
Prayer ping!
Let them all immigrate to the Vatican
Here’s the problem with Papacy when it comes to war and international event. They each speak out against every conflict, but then now lament what happens when evil is not confronted.
That’s almost as fierce as our Barry.
Muzzies must be TERRIFIED.
Violence will not win over violence. Violence is won over by peace!”
Uhm, sorry Mr. Pope but, peace is always maintained under the threat of violence with terms and conditions dictating how we will act toward each other and what activities are prohibited, least hostilities require enforcement of the “T’s & C’s”.
The Pope is too busy telling capitalists what horrible people they are, and continually telling us about the world’s poor.
In the meantime, Muslim fanatics in Iraq, Africa and elsewhere are murdering Christian men, women and children. Where is Pope Francis??? Why is he not speaking out to Islamic leaders and demanding that they in turn speak out against these crimes??? Instead, he invites a Muslim Imam to pray with other faiths at the Vatican and the Imam prays in Arabic requesting that Islam triumph over all other religions.
This Pope has been one huge disappointment to this Catholic.
“Violence will not win over violence. Violence is won over by peace!”
Over the long haul (many generations, well beyond our lifetimes) this is true (IMHO), but it doesn’t stop the immediate pain of genocide and religious persecution etc. The reality is humanity is sometimes anything but humane.
The papacy rests with idiocy. He makes outreach to the poor but forgets that God made warriors to protect the poor. Jesus was not a passive man and knew evil must be responded to with force. ( the cleansing of the Temple)
Wake up and realize we are facing the minions of satan and must respond accordingly!
The vacuum created by Obama's retraction of American power has virtually guaranteed that violence will escalate across the globe. We are in for increasingly bad times until the moral use of force brings some kind of order back to the world.
The Pope is daydreaming about the eschaton, but none of us will be around by then.
A lot of words from the Pope. I notice none of them were
“Islam” or “Muslim”.
They story is incomplete. WHO forced the Christians out and WHY Francis? Coward.
A bit too late for the Pope’s concerns, isn’t it?
He’s got to get back to being a real Christian defender, not an neo-marxist dupe.
Prayer for the Protection of Religious Liberty
O God our Creator,
from your provident hand we have received
our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
You have called us as your people and given us
the right and the duty to worship you, the only true God,
and your Son, Jesus Christ.
Through the power and working of your Holy Spirit,
you call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world,
bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel
to every corner of society.
We ask you to bless us
in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty.
Give us the strength of mind and heart
to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened;
give us courage in making our voices heard
on behalf of the rights of your Church
and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.
Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father,
a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters
gathered in your Church
in this decisive hour in the history of our nation,
so that, with every trial withstood
and every danger overcome—
for the sake of our children, our grandchildren,
and all who come after us—
this great land will always be "one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
That’s a lovely prayer. And thank you for your many interesting posts regarding the faith, Salvation.
You’re welcome.
Love it!!
Sure it's ALL Pope Francis's fault that Iraq is falling apart. I'll tell you what, there are days......
You nailed it. Thank you for an excellent post and ping.
Your pope either doesn't understand the scriptures or he is willfully distorting the scriptures...
There will be no peace...And the main thing he missed in the parable he expounded on is that the wheat will be removed while the tares are burned up...
Concluding his address, Pope Francis explained that “we will be judged with the same measure we have judged others.”
Is that an attempt to convince Catholics not to speak harshly about muzlims???
“The mercy that we have shown to others will also be shown to us,” he stated,
Really??? Really??? Guess the ISIS muzlims didn't get your pope's message...
and prayed that Mary, “our Mother,” help us “to grow in patience, in hope and in mercy with all of our brothers.”
Certainly...And hopefully your brothers will use a sharp blade when they de-head you...
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