• Francis in the land of Abraham.

    Dialogue and diplomacy: the pope's outstretched hands

  • The pope in the plain of Ur, the ancient city of the Chaldeans and the homeland of Abraham

  • The ambassador to Amman: the pope brings hope to a troubled country and throughout the Middle East

  • The ambassador to Baghdad.

    "The Pope and a historic visit. The country is fragile and society is vibrant"

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03 March 2021 "The day after tomorrow, God willing, I will go to Iraq for a 3-day pilgrimage. For a long time I have wanted to meet that people who have suffered so much, to meet that martyred Church".

Thus the Pope. "In the land of Abraham with the other religious leaders we will take another step forward in brotherhood among believers. I ask you to accompany this journey with prayer so that it can take place in the best possible way, bear the hoped-for fruits. The people Iraqi awaits us. He was waiting for St. John Paul II when he was forbidden to go: we cannot disappoint a people for the second time. Let us pray that this journey can be done well ".



In Erbil blessing of a statue vandalized by ISIS

During the mass he will celebrate in the Erbil stadium on Sunday 7 March, Pope Francis will bless a statue of the Virgin Mary vandalized by the militiamen of the Islamic State during the occupation of the Nineveh Plain.

This was reported to Sir Father Samir Sheer, director of Radio Mariam in Erbil.

"The statue, which comes from the Christian village of Karamles, is without hands - says the religious - because they were cut off by the terrorists. Originally the statue was also without a head which has been recovered and reattached. In these hours it is being completed. its restoration. After the blessing the statue will return to the Nineveh Plain. The hope of local Christians is that Our Lady will soon return to hug her children in Karamles ".



Rockets on a base in Iraq

Meanwhile, a dozen rockets have hit the Ain al-Asad air base, in the Anbar province of western Iraq, where American troops and US-led international coalition forces are stationed.

All of them fell outside the perimeter of the air base and caused no casualties or material damage.

This is the fourth rocket attack conducted against American forces in Iraq and the Iraqi Kurdistan region in the past thirty days, on the eve of Pope Francis' visit to the country.       


"There have been rocket launches but they are considered not exceptional by those in the area, as something not extraordinary. No one identifies a correlation with the Pope's apostolic visit" from 5 to 8 March.

Alessandro Monteduro, director of the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need, which deals with persecuted Christians, especially in the Middle East, told LaPresse.

A delegation from the foundation, which also has a base in Iraq, will travel with Francis on the flight to Baghdad.