Pope Francis said he would go "to Iraq on a pilgrimage" Wednesday during his traditional audience.
He intends to honor the promise of former Pope John Paul II who was unable to go there in 1999. Security will be reinforced during his trip.
Pope Francis said he was maintaining his March 5-8 trip to Iraq, as at least ten rockets hit a US base in the west of the country on Wednesday killing one person.
"I will go to Iraq for a pilgrimage," said the Pope after his traditional Wednesday audience, stressing that he wished "to meet a people who have suffered so much, to meet this martyred Church".
"I ask you to accompany this journey with prayer (...). The Iraqi people are waiting for us, they were waiting for John Paul II, who was forbidden to go there. You cannot disappoint a people a second time" , added the Argentine Pope.
François thus intends to honor the promise of the Pole Jean-Paul II who gave up in 1999 to go to Iraq after fruitless negotiations with the former president Saddam Hussein.
"The Pope will not meet crowds"
Pope Francis made the remarks just hours after rocket attacks in Iraq left one dead.
At least ten rockets fell early Wednesday on a base housing US soldiers in western Iraq, killing a civilian contractor.
On Tuesday, the director of the Vatican press service said Pope Francis would likely travel in an armored car during his trip to Iraq.
"Security is always the responsibility of the receiving country," said Matteo Bruni, however.
"The Pope will not meet crowds. We are in an order of magnitude of a few hundred people, in Baghdad, Ur, Mosul, a little more in Qaraqosh," he added.
"The Pope said that it also counts that people can see him on television and know that he is there in their country", assured Matteo Bruni.