People used to talk about Barack Obama going on an apology tour to apologize for the supposed historical sins of the United States all around the world.
Well, the alleged Pope is now apologizing for the Crusades, and labeling them blasphemy.
Reuters:
Pope Francis walked down a narrow alleyway in the holy city of Najav to hold a historic meeting with Iraqs top Shiite cleric and visited the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham on Saturday to condemn violence in the name of God as the greatest blasphemy.
The inter-religious events, one in a dusty, built-up city and the other on a desert plain 200 km (125 miles) away, reinforced the main theme of the popes risky trip to Iraq that the country has suffered far too much, and the killing has often been sectarian.
From this place, where faith was born, from the land of our father Abraham, let us affirm that God is merciful and that the greatest blasphemy is to profane his name by hating our brothers and sisters, Francis said at the ancient site of Ur where Abraham was born.
With the desert wind blowing his white cassock, Francis, sitting with Muslim, Christian and Yazidi leaders, spoke within sight of the archaeological dig of the 4,000 year-old city that comprises a pyramid- style Ziggurat, a residential complex, temples and palaces.
We still dont know that this is the site Abraham was born at. That is just some theory of Israeli academics, endorsed by evangelical kooks.
But they are definitely in the process of preserving and restoring something very old.
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