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Pope Francis arrives at Baghdad International Airport on Friday for the first-ever papal visit to Iraq. Image: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP via Getty Images Updated at 2:45 p.m. ET IRBIL, Iraq — Pope Francis has touched down in Iraq for the first-ever papal visit to the predominantly Muslim country, beginning a four-day visit in Baghdad, where yellow and white Vatican flags and likenesses of the pontiff flutter above hastily weeded traffic circles. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi welcomed Francis at Baghdad International Airport. He was greeted with fanfare as he stepped onto the red carpet, and th...

By Courtney Mares Iraqi Christians and Muslims alike have expressed excitment for Pope Francis’ upcoming trip to Iraq, an aid worker based in Erbil said. Davide Bernocchi, Catholic Relief Services’ country representative for Iraq, said: “People are really hopeful and grateful for this visit. This country has been at the center of attention for bad news for so many years unfortunately, and now they are really happy to be the center of the world’s attention for a few days because of this great and positive event.”  “It’s really not just the Christians; it is the whole of the Iraq...

The Vatican bills the pope's visit as 'an act of love' despite growing pandemic and security risks. It's a message that resonates with what's left of Iraq's Christians.

Published date: 3 March 2021 13:14 UTC | Last update: 1 month ago In the Christian-majority, northern Iraqi town of Qaraqosh, a community uprooted by the Islamic State (IS) group in 2014 is now preparing for an event that, just a few years ago, seemed unimaginable: a visit by His Holiness Pope Francis. When IS entered Qaraqosh, which lies 30km from Mosul, the town's entire population - save two elderly ladies - fled to neighbouring Iraqi Kurdistan, leaving militants to a campaign of looting and destruction. Churches were desecrated, steeples toppled,...

A medical team member sprays disinfectant on a person believed to have the coronavirus as he is being brought to a hospital in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq, Feb. 25, 2021. (CNS/Reuters/Alaa Al-Marjani) Vatican City — A week before Pope Francis was scheduled to arrive in Iraq, the Vatican nuncio in Baghdad and several members of the staff tested positive for COVID-19 and began self-isolating. The embassy confirmed the news Feb. 28, after the nuncio, Archbishop Mitja Leskovar, told the news agency Reuters that although he was experiencing light symptoms and was in self-i...