(i24News) Pope Francis said Saturday that Christians are being “driven from the Middle East” in a message to Iraqi Christians forced to flee from Mosul by ISIS jihadists.
“Christians are being driven from the Middle East in suffering,” the pontiff said in a video message as French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin visited the Iraqi city of Irbil, where thousands of Christians have taken refuge following the fall of their city in June.
Thousands of Christians have taken refuge in Erbil after jihadists in June overran Mosul, Iraq’s second city, and forced hundreds of thousands of Christians and members of the Yazidi community to flee their homes.
