Pope Francis' historic visit to Iraq ends, calls on "Peace and Humanity"

Pope Francis ended his historic tour of Iraq; he left the capital Baghdad after visiting conflict-ridden cities, met Muslim and Christian leaders, and proclaimed peace and coexistence over war.

Pope waved one last time Monday before boarding a plane to the Vatican City. Iraqi President Barham Salih also accompanied the 84-year-old pope on a red carpet for his departure.

During the pope's trip, the first papal visit to Iraq, he toured four cities, including Mosul, the former fortress of ISIL (ISIS), where vast areas still lie in ruins.

In his speeches, he delivered messages of peaceful coexistence, urging the togetherness and security of all. Intense security surrounded his trip to Iraq. Military pickups, equipped with machine guns, accompanied his car, and security guards of plain clothes mingled in Mosul.

In the Pope's Mosul Mass on Sunday, Muslim and Christian residents in the devastated Iraqi city talked about their lives under the cruel rule of ISIL.

Francis saw the ruins of houses and churches on a square that was the flourishing center of the old city before Mosul was occupied by ISIL from 2014 to 2017. Its fighters have plagued northern Iraq, killing Christians as well as Muslims who opposed it.

He sits surrounded by skeletons of buildings, hanging concrete stairs, and craters of ancient churches, the most dangerous to enter.

Much of the old city was devastated in 2017 during the war by Iraqi forces and an international military coalition to drive out ISIL.

"How cruel it is that this land, the cradle of civilization, has had to be plagued by such a barbaric battle, with ancient places of worship destroyed and thousands of people - Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, and others - displaced or killed by force," he said.

"Today, however, we assure our confidence that brotherhood is more lasting than war, that hope is more compelling than resentment, that peace is more convincing than conflict."

In a seemingly direct reference to ISIL, Francis stated that faith could never be "overawed by the killing by those who debase the name of God to follow the paths of destruction."

The Christian community of Iraq, one of the oldest in the world, was devastated by the years of conflict and dropped to about 300,000 from about 1.5 million before the US invasion in 2003 and the brutal ISIL violence that followed.

Francis also flew by helicopter to Qaraqosh, a Christian village overrun by ISIL fighters, visiting a church whose courtyard was used by fighters as a shooting range on Sunday.

He then celebrates the mass in Erbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdish region, where thousands packed a stadium to attend.

He received the most tumultuous welcomes from his visit to Qaraqosh and Erbil, where most people did not wear face masks and did not distance themselves socially, despite an increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

At the end of the Mass, the last official occasion of his visit, Francis told the crowd: "Iraq will always remain with me, in my heart."

He concluded by saying 'salam, salam, salam' (peace, peace, peace) in Arabic.

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