Pope Benedict XVI has spoken in condemnation against the violence of Christians in India and Iraq, ASSIST News Service reported. "I invite you to pray for peace and reconciliation as situations cause concern and great suffering... I think of violence against Christians in India and Iraq," he told the crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square, after a ceremony canonizing Sister Alfonsa, an Indian saint who died in 1946. In Iraq, the government reported having dispatched 1,000 police to the northern city of Mosul on Sunday, in order to protect Christians who have become the target of the worst violence perpetrated against their community in five years, according to The Times of India. Nearly 1,000 Christian families have fled homes in the city since Friday after 13 were killed in the previous two weeks.
