Vatican City, Nov 17, 2016 / 08:37 am
In a meeting with the Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East Thursday, Pope Francis criticized ongoing violence in Iraq and Syria, saying no motive can justify or allow the killing of innocent people, especially children.
Asking the Lord for the "gift of peace," the Pope said he was "dismayed by what continues to happen in the Middle East, especially in Iraq and Syria."
"There, upon hundreds of thousands of innocent children, women and men is poured the terrible violence of bloody conflicts, which no motive can justify or allow," he said.
In Iraq and Syria, he said, "our Christian brothers and sisters, as well as various religious and ethnic minorities, are unfortunately accustomed to suffer great trials every day."