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Where Muslim extremists ruled, pope calls on Christians to forgive, rebuild

Francis visits Mosul, which was at the heart of the Islamic State’s “caliphate” and a site of beheadings and mass killings.

(Andrew Medichini | The Associated Press) Pope Francis, surrounded by shells of destroyed churches, leads a prayer for the victims of war at Hosh al-Bieaa Church Square, in Mosul, Iraq, once the de-facto capital of IS, Sunday, March 7, 2021. The long 2014-2017 war to drive IS out left ransacked homes and charred or pulverized buildings around the north of Iraq, all sites Francis visited on Sunday.