On Friday, Pope Francis did something entirely new: He became the first leader of the Roman Catholic Church ever to visit Iraq. And he did so with a message as old as humanity itself: We are all connected. We join millions in hoping the new platform in the cradle of civilization gives fresh urgency to his message of civility.

The pope visited the ancient city of Ur on Saturday, the birthplace of Abraham, and thus a fitting place to remind the world of our commonality. Abraham, of course, is revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. In visiting Ur, Francis chose to symbolically return to a time before any of those three religions existed, a time that seems closer to the creation of humans in the image of God than to the despotic rule, war and extremism that have ravaged Iraq in recent decades.

From our seat half a world away, Francis' visit to Iraq seems rich in symbolism, wisdom, relevance and courage. The world needs religious leaders who visit war-torn lands and promote peace. And we'll add that we need the same in the strife-torn neighborhoods here.

Perhaps the pope's "You are all brothers" message can point all of us — from Mesopotamia to Midlothian — toward another of the world's great theologians: Bono of the rock band U2, whose 2014 album "Songs of Innocence" repeats this proverb seven times:

There is no them.

There is only us.

FROM AN EDITORIAL IN THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS