Pope Francis took shots at the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria during his Christmas message and said he hoped that bloodshed there and elsewhere in the world that has turned hundreds of thousands into refugees would soon come to an end.
“Today I ask him, the Savior of the world, to look upon our brothers and sisters in Iraq and Syria, who for too long now have suffered the effects of ongoing conflict, and who, together with those belonging to other ethnic and religious groups, are suffering a brutal persecution,” Pope Francis said at St. Peters Square in the Vatican.
“May Christmas bring them hope, as indeed also to the many displaced persons, exiles and refugees, children, adults and elderly, from this region and from the whole world.”
Pope Francis also hoped for an end to strife and conflict in Ukraine, where Russian-backed rebels are stirring unrest in the eastern swath of the country. So too did he hope for an end to violence that’s riled Nigeria at the hands of Boko Haram, an Islamist terrorist group, and fighting in Libya, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“I beseech all who have political responsibility to commit themselves through dialogue to overcoming differences and to building a lasting, fraternal coexistence,” he said.
