Pope Francis travels to Iraq tomorrow
The Leader of the world’s Catholic Christians has stressed that despite a recent rocket attack on an international coalition base in western Iraq, his visit to the country will take place on time.
Pope Francis I, the world’s leading Catholic Christian, said on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after a rocket attack on Ayn Al Asad airbase in the western Iraqi border province of Al-Anbar, that according to the plan, he will travel to this country tomorrow (Friday).
Reuters reports that Pope Francis, referring to the cancellation of the visit of Pope John Paul II, the former leader of the world’s Catholic Christians, to Iraq in 2000, noted that his visit to this country will take place because people can not be disappointed again.
According to the report, the leader of the world’s Catholic Christians in his weekly sermon also called for prayers and supplications for his visit to Iraq to be carried out in the best possible way and to achieve his goals. 84-year-old Pope Francis, while announcing that he would leave for Iraq tomorrow for a three-day trip, emphasized that he has been wanting to meet with the people of this country for a long time, who suffered a lot.
According to the Vatican Press Office, Pope Francis, the world’s first Catholic Christian Leader to visit Iraq, begins his trip on March 5 by arriving at Baghdad International Airport. Arriving at the airport ceremony hall, he will meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, then he will enter the presidential palace in an official welcoming ceremony attended by President Barham Ahmed Saleh and other high-ranking Iraqi officials.
According to the announced schedule, Pope Francis will leave Baghdad for Najaf Ashraf on the second day of his visit, next Saturday (March 6), to meet with the Grand Ayatollah “Seyyed Ali Sistani”, the Supreme Religious Authority of the world’s Shia Muslims. Then he will go to Nasiriyah, the capital of Dhi Qar province in southern Iraq, to attend an interfaith conference in the historic city of Ur, the birthplace of Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH).
And on the third day, he will travel to Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan, where he is scheduled to meet with high-ranking climate officials and a number of religious figures at the city’s international airport, and he will also hold a prayer ceremony at the 40,000-seat Franso Hariri Stadium while visiting the cities of Mosul and Qaraqosh in the north-western border province of Nineveh.