Pope steps up appeals for end to bloodbath in Iraq

Published: 2008-03-17

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI stepped up appeals for an end to the bloodbath and hatred tearing apart Iraq. Mentioning the recent tragic death of an Iraqi archbishop and the upcoming fifth anniversary of the start of the U.S.-led campaign against Iraq, the pope issued "a loud and concerned outcry." "Enough with the bloodshed, enough with the violence, enough with the hatred in Iraq," he said immediately before reciting his noonday Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square March 16. He launched an appeal to all Iraqis, "who for the past five years have borne the consequences of a war that has caused the upheaval of civil and social life." He said, "Beloved Iraqi people: Lift up your heads and let it be you yourselves who, in the first place, rebuild" the life of the nation. "May reconciliation, forgiveness, justice and respect for the civil coexistence among tribes, ethnicities and religious groups" be the harmonious path the people take so as to achieve peace in God's name, the pope said.

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