Pope Francis is dispatching Cardinal Fernando Filoni as his personal envoy to northern Iraq today, the Vatican press office has said. Islamist militias have sent thousands of Christians and other religious minorities fleeing for their lives in the region.

The Boston Globe’s John L Allen Jr writes that “Filoni is the pope’s top Iraq expert, having served as the papal nuncio, or ambassador, to Baghdad from 2001 to 2006. That put Filoni in the thick of things during the 2003 US-led invasion, when he was the lone Western diplomat who didn’t abandon his post as the bombs fell.”

The Vatican’s chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Filoni would leave for Iraqi Kurdistan, amid reports that as many as 100,000 Christians have been forced from their homes by Islamic State militants.

“The pope wanted to mobilize, given the serious ongoing emergency,” said Lombardi.

Filoni is expected to deliver a personal message of solidarity and support from the pope as well as financial aid to those affected by the wave of violence.

“It is too early to say… what his itinerary will be,” Lombardi told journalists. “The mission is still being prepared.”

The pope also called on all nuncios, or ambassadors to foreign governments, in the region to convey his message to local authorities and churches. The nuncios are expected to be called to a meeting in Rome in September, Lombardi said.

Cardinal Filoni is currently serving as Prefect for the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.