Pope's Sunday 'Angelus' on Iraq's Christians, Chile's quake disaster

(March 1, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called on the Iraqi government to do all they can to stop the recent killing spree of Christians in the northern city of Mosul. He also prayed for the people affected by the earthquake in Chile that has “caused numerous losses of human lives and extensive damage". The Pope expressed his sentiments for the tragedies in the two nations before reciting the weekly midday ‘Angelus’ prayer with a large crowd in St. Peter’s Square. At least eight Christians have been killed in northern Iraq in the last two weeks. The Holy Father described the killings as "tragic news" that filled him with "deep sadness." Some 15,000 Christians remain in the Muslim-majority city of Mosul, where their families have lived for 2,000 years. The Holy Father said that during his weeklong spiritual exercises, which ended Saturday, he "followed with much concern the other episodes of violence, perpetrated in the martyred land of Iraq, which have harmed defenseless persons of various religious affiliations." "I often prayed for all the victims of those attacks and today I would like to join myself spiritually in prayer for peace and the restoration of security promoted by the council of bishops at Nineveh," he added. The Holy Father expressed his closeness with Iraq’s Christians and appealed to the international community to do its best to give the Iraqis a future of reconciliation, justice and peace.
After appealing for Iraq’s Christians, Pope Benedict made another appeal for the victims of the earthquake in Chile pledging his prayers and spiritual closeness with the suffering. The Chilean government on Monday sharply raised the death toll to 711 from Saturday's 8.8 magnitude quake as harrowing scenes of destruction emerged in isolated towns swamped by the giant tsunami waves that were triggered by one of the strongest earthquakes in a century. "We pray for the victims - said the pope - and I am spiritually close to people so affected by this major disaster, for them I implore relief from God in their suffering and the courage to overcome adversity. I am sure that the solidarity of many, especially church organizations, will not fail. "
Earlier, Pope Benedict began his the Sunday ‘Angelus’ discourse reflecting on the Sunday Gospel episode of the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain. He said that like Peter, James and John, we have to fight the drowsy earthliness inside us, in order to be able to "see" the glory of Jesus." The eyes can not see, but the ears can hear the voice that comes from the cloud: 'This is my Son, the Chosen One, listen to him', the Pope explained. Commenting on the words of Peter, "Master, it is good for us to be here," Pope Benedict said, "the ecstatic expression of Peter, often it looks like ... our desire when faced with the consolations of the Lord.” But, he said, the Transfiguration reminds us that the joys planted by God in our lives are not points of arrival, but lights that He gives us on our earthly pilgrimage, for "Jesus alone" is our law and his word is the criteria that guides our existence ".