A sea of flags, drums, chants and chants.
Hours before the start of the papal mass, 10,000 people celebrate in the football stadium in Erbil.
A large white altar is built on the long side of the tartan track.
A large gold cross on a brown background is emblazoned on the back wall.
There are hundreds of chairs covered in white cloth on the lawn.
"We are incredibly happy," says Pastor Samas Naum, who has traveled to the capital of Kurdistan with 25 parishioners from Dohuk, 150 kilometers away. "We have been waiting for the Pope for so long and now our dream has come true," explains the 68-year-old with a blissful smile.