Pope Francis visits Iraq for the first time in 2,000 years of Christianity. The Pope visited the home of the top religious leader in Islam and delivered a message of peace and coexistence.
This is Jung Joon-hyung.
<기자>
Pope Francis personally visited the home of Alsistani, an Islamic Shiite leader in southern Iraq.
Alsistani, 90 this year, is considered one of the most influential figures for the Iraqi people.
The historical meeting between the two religious leaders, Christianity and Islam, took place privately for nearly 50 minutes.
At this meeting, the Pope called for Muslims to embrace the minority Christians in Iraq, and Alsistani stressed that “Iraqi Christians must live in peace and coexistence with other Iraqis” after the meeting.
The Pope also visited the hometown of Abraham, the common ancestor of Christianity and Islam, calling for an end to violence and extremism.
[프란치스코 교황 : 적대와 극단주의, 폭력은 신앙의 마음에서 비롯된 것이 아니며, 신앙을 배반하는 행위들입니다.]
The Pope also held Mass at the Cathedral in Baghdad.
The world’s oldest Christian Iraqi society reached a maximum of 1.4 million in the early 2000s, but since then the war and attacks by Islamic armed groups have greatly shrunk to around 3-400,000.
[이라크 가톨릭 신자 : 정말 행복합니다 (왜 웁니까?) 정말 기쁩니다. 예수가 우리를 찾아온 것 같습니다.]
Prior to his visit to Iraq, the Pope is said to have remained unwilling to visit Iraq, saying it is worth the risk, despite voices of concern over the spread of Corona 19 and security insecurity.
(Video editing: Jung Yonghwa)