Pope releases white dove in Mosul's church

Pope Francis released a white dove in a sign of peace after he prayed  for Iraq's war dead amid the ruins of four demolished churches in Mosul, which suffered widespread destruction in the war against the Islamic State group.

In a scene unimaginable just four years ago, the pontiff had earlier mounted a stage in a city square surrounded by the remnants of the heavily damaged churches belonging to some of Iraq's myriad Christian rites and denominations.

The square where he spoke is home to four different churches — Syro-Catholic, Armenian-Orthodox, Syro-Orthodox and Chaldean — each of them left in ruins.