| Pope Francis © Reuters = News 1 |
Pope Francis announced a visit to Iraq on March 5-8 next year. It is a tour in 15 months.
According to Reuters and Vatican media on the 7th, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said that the pope had accepted the invitation to Iraqi authorities and local Catholics.
A spokesman for the Holy See said that the Pope will tour Baghdad, the Plains of Ur, Erbil, Mosul and Karakosh.
Pope Francis has long expressed his intention to visit Iraq to spread the message of religious harmony around the world.
He said the reason for his visit to Iraq was “to look forward to the future through the pursuit of a peaceful common good in all elements of society, including religion, and to not fall back into hostilities triggered by the conflict of powers in the region.”
It is said that Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq is like a ray of light for Iraqis, who have long suffered from civil war and economic crisis.
Pope John Paul II, former predecessor, attempted to visit Iraq in late 1999, but Saddam Hussein stopped it.
Before the US-led coalition invaded Iraq in 2003 to oust Saddam Hussein, Iraq had about 1.4 million Christians. After the war against extremists such as the Islamic State (IS), the number fell to 300,000-400,000.
UNICEF’s UN Children’s Organization estimates that about 4 million Iraqis are in need of humanitarian aid, half of which are children.
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