Pope Francis begins historic four-day trip to Iraq

5th March 2021

Pope Francis has begun a first ever papal trip to Iraq to preach a message of peace and reconciliation to warring communities and bring hope to a heavily persecuted Christian minority which has seen its numbers plunge in recent years.

He was greeted by the country’s Prime Minister, Mustafa Al Kadhimi, at Baghdad International Airport and together they travelled to the Presidential Palace where the holy Father met the President, Barham Salih.

There he gave an address to Government authorities, Civil Society leaders, and the Diplomatic Corps.

After that, he travelled to the Syro-Catholic Cathedral of “Our Lady of Salvation”, the scene of a 2010 terrorist attack where six ISIS suicide bombers killed dozens of worshippers during mass.

Tomorrow, he will travel south to Najaf to meet a top Shia Muslim cleric, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani. After that, he will participate in a major inter-religious meeting in the plain of Ur, the site of the ancient biblical birthplace of Abraham, the patriarch of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

On Sunday, he will travel North to visit ancient Christian communities devastated by Isis.

He returns to Rome on Monday morning.