Pope Francis to visit Erbil on historic trip to Iraq
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Pope Francis will conduct an apostolic trip to Iraq from March 5 to 8 of next year, in which he will visit Baghdad, the southern plain of Ur, in Iraq’s Dhi Qar province, as well as Mosul, Qaraqosh, and Erbil in the north, according to a statement released by Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican’s press office.
With this visit, the Pope will end a 15-month suspension of his international travel, due to the coronavirus, with an historic visit to Iraq that includes the Kurdistan Region.
The Vatican’s press statement indicated that the Pope had accepted an invitation from the Iraqi government and Iraq’s Catholic Church. His visit will take four days, and it will include four provinces.
The statement explained that the Pope "will visit Baghdad and the plain of Ur, which is linked to the memory of Abraham, the city of Erbil, as well as Mosul and Qaraqosh in the Nineveh Plain."
Pope Francis previously expressed his desire to visit Iraq on June 10, 2019, when he told a meeting of Catholic aid agencies that he planned to travel to the country the following year.
Read More: Pope Francis wants to make first ever papal visit to Iraq in 2020
It seems the coronavirus has delayed his visit by a few months, but it will occur this spring, a few weeks before Easter.
The Pope’s visit comes as a realization of the aspiration of a predecessor, Pope Saint John Paul II, who planned to travel to Iraq at the end of 1999. However, Iraq’s then-ruler, the dictator, Saddam Hussein, prevented it.
According to Cardinal Louis Raphael Sacco, head of the Chaldean Patriarch in Iraq, Pope Francis will receive a warm welcome, as he affirmed, "Everyone in Iraq appreciates Pope Francis. He is a man who brings peace."
In a statement released by Iraq’s Foreign Ministry, it said, “The Pope's visit to Iraq, Mesopotamia, the land of the messengers and the prophets, and the home of Ur and the Prophet Abraham, represents a historic event and support for all Iraqis of all kinds."
The Foreign Ministry statement described the papal visit as "a message of peace to Iraq and the entire region. It affirms the unity of the humanitarian situation in confronting extremism and conflicts, and it promotes diversity, tolerance, and coexistence."
Francis, 82, who began his papacy in early 2013, has been commended for his humility and commitment to interfaith dialogue, particularly between Christianity and Islam.
The then prime minister of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, met with Pope Francis on Jan. 12, 2018, at the Vatican and asked him to play a role in reducing tensions between Erbil and Baghdad.
Read More: Kurdistan PM asks Pope Francis to pressure Baghdad to launch dialogue with Erbil
That visit is now at hand.
Edited by Laurie Mylroie