Pope Francis’ extraordinary visit to war-weary Iraq, now safely completed, sums up his pontificate in two remarkable ways. He went to bring succour and support to the remaining Christian communities, among the oldest in the world, which had suffered grievous persecution at the hands of Islamic State (IS). He was the Good Shepherd risking all out of concern for every member of his flock. And he came to preach peace, epitomising the words of Jesus: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.”

The other part of his mission was to show the futility, insanity and sheer evil of violent conflict between religions. He had in mind not just the determination of IS to obliterate Christianity from the self-styled Caliphate, and the brutal Islamist treatment of other faiths it had taken exemption to, especially the Yazidis, but the fundamental source of conflict throughout the region – the divide between followers of the Sunni and Shia versions of Islam. He demonstrated again the power of symbolic actions, exemplifying the call attributed to St Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.”