On Sunday, during his historic visit to Iraq, Pope Francis stood amid the ruins of the Syriac Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception in Mosul and shared three thoughts: (Photo: ANS)

If God is the God of life – for so He is – then it is wrong for us to kill our brothers and sisters in His Name.

If God is the God of peace – for so He is – then it is wrong for us to wage war in His Name.

If God is the God of love – for so He is – then it is wrong for us to hate our brothers and sisters.

Having heard the testimonies of a Catholic priest and of a member of the Sunni Muslim community, both of who had been victims of the terror that was inflicted on the city of Mosul, the Holy Father urged everyone to join him in praying for the victims of war, asking that 'all of us, whatever our religious tradition, live in harmony and peace, conscious that in the eyes of God, we are all brothers and sisters.'

Lord, we now entrust to you the many victims of man's hatred for man. We too implore your forgiveness and beg the grace of repentance: Kyrie eleison! Kyrie eleison! Kyrie eleison!'

… Teach us to realise that you have entrusted to us your plan of love, peace and reconciliation, and charged us to carry it out in our time, in the brief span of our earthly lives.

He prayed for those who had lost their lives to the violence, and for those who had inflicted it,

To you we entrust all those whose span of earthly life was cut short by the violent hand of their brothers and sisters; we also pray to you for those who caused such harm to their brothers and sisters. May they repent, touched by the power of your mercy.

Read more on Vatican News (link below)