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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Christians in the Kurdistan Region and across the world marked Good Friday, remembering of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, with the leader of the Roman Catholic Church encouraging prayers for feeling shame, repentance, hope, and grace.
Locals and IDPs gathered at Saint Joseph church in Ainkawa, a Christian neighborhood in Erbil.
In addition to remembering the crucifixion, Good Friday is also an opportunity to remember those who are suffering and are oppressed, Bishop Bashar Mati told Rudaw.
A family from Syria and a nun from Iraq were among 14 pilgrims in Rome on Friday who carried a cross in a service with Pope Francis.
Riad Sargi and his family from Syria carried the cross in the seventh station. Sargi is the executive director of Caritas, the council of the heads of the Catholic Churches in Syria.
"Jesus falls for the second time." Sargi told the Vatican’s news agency. “We will bear the difficulties and difficult situations on the cross.
Carrying the cross is a part of a 14-station ceremony to remember Jesus carrying the cross through the streets of Jerusalem prior to his crucifixion.
"We will feel the cross as very heavy for us to bear, because we hold all the suffering for all the Syrian people, from children, families, fathers, and mothers,” added Sargi.
On Saturday night and on Sunday, Christians will celebrate Easter.
"We're looking for Syria to, like Jesus, be resurrected from the death, the difficulties, and to live again a normal life, hopefully very soon,” he added.
Pope Francis’ Good Friday prayer focused on shame, repentance, and hope.
Pope Francis said that the world, including members of the Catholic Church, have to rediscover the power to experience shame for the injustices and selfishness in a world that is divided by war.
“We have multiple reason to feel shame,” prayed Pope Francis, “for choosing power and money over God, for preferring worldliness instead of eternity, for leaving young people a world shattered by divisions and wars, a world devoured by selfishness where the young, the vulnerable, the sick, and the elderly are marginalized.”
The pope also touched on repentance and hope.
In Iraq’s last census in 1987, some 1.5 million Christians were counted. Prior to ISIS, local groups estimate the Christian population was 400,000 – 600,000. About half the population has left Iraq since 2014 and around 130,000 sought shelter in the Kurdistan Region.
Locals and IDPs gathered at Saint Joseph church in Ainkawa, a Christian neighborhood in Erbil.
In addition to remembering the crucifixion, Good Friday is also an opportunity to remember those who are suffering and are oppressed, Bishop Bashar Mati told Rudaw.
A family from Syria and a nun from Iraq were among 14 pilgrims in Rome on Friday who carried a cross in a service with Pope Francis.
Riad Sargi and his family from Syria carried the cross in the seventh station. Sargi is the executive director of Caritas, the council of the heads of the Catholic Churches in Syria.
"Jesus falls for the second time." Sargi told the Vatican’s news agency. “We will bear the difficulties and difficult situations on the cross.
Carrying the cross is a part of a 14-station ceremony to remember Jesus carrying the cross through the streets of Jerusalem prior to his crucifixion.
"We will feel the cross as very heavy for us to bear, because we hold all the suffering for all the Syrian people, from children, families, fathers, and mothers,” added Sargi.
On Saturday night and on Sunday, Christians will celebrate Easter.
"We're looking for Syria to, like Jesus, be resurrected from the death, the difficulties, and to live again a normal life, hopefully very soon,” he added.
Pope Francis’ Good Friday prayer focused on shame, repentance, and hope.
Pope Francis said that the world, including members of the Catholic Church, have to rediscover the power to experience shame for the injustices and selfishness in a world that is divided by war.
“We have multiple reason to feel shame,” prayed Pope Francis, “for choosing power and money over God, for preferring worldliness instead of eternity, for leaving young people a world shattered by divisions and wars, a world devoured by selfishness where the young, the vulnerable, the sick, and the elderly are marginalized.”
The pope also touched on repentance and hope.
“Repentance is born of our shame,” he prayed. “Knowing that only good can defeat evil and wickedness, only forgiveness can overcome resentment and revenge, only a fraternal embrace can disperse the hostility and fear of the other."
Christians in both Iraq and Syria are among a select number of religious groups such as Yezidis who fell victim to the persecution of the extremist groups like the ISIS radicals since 2014.
In Iraq’s last census in 1987, some 1.5 million Christians were counted. Prior to ISIS, local groups estimate the Christian population was 400,000 – 600,000. About half the population has left Iraq since 2014 and around 130,000 sought shelter in the Kurdistan Region.
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