The Pope to the ambassador:
“In Iraq, the land of your mission, this service takes on a special meaning. There, the Catholic Church lives in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, within diverse traditions: the Chaldean Church with its Patriarch, the Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, and its Aramaic language in the liturgy; the Syriac Catholic Church, the Armenian Catholic Church, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and the Latin Church. It is a mosaic of rites and cultures, of history and faith, that must be embraced and preserved with love.”
He added that the Christian presence in Mesopotamia is very ancient.
The Pope addressing every bishop:
“Humility—not the humility of words, but the kind that dwells in the heart of one who knows he is a servant, not a master; a shepherd, not an owner of the flock.”
He emphasized that the Catholic Church in Iraq seeks to be a friend to all.