Pope Francis to visit Iraq in March 2021

Rome [Italy], December 8 (ANI) Pope Francis is set to travel to Iraq in March 2021, which would be his first outside Italy ever since the coronavirus pandemic, said the Vatican press office.
According to a communique by the Vatican, the Pope is set to"visit Baghdad, linked to the memory of Abraham, the city of Erbil, as well as Mosul and Qaraqosh in the plain of Nineveh" from March 5-8, as quoted by CNN.
"The programme of the journey will be made known in due course, and will take into consideration the evolution of the worldwide health emergency," it added.
Iraq's foreign ministry said in a statement that the visit "represents a historic event and support for all Iraqis of all sectors".
"It also represents a message of peace to Iraq and to the region as a whole, affirms the unity of the humanitarian position in confronting extremism and conflicts, and promotes diversity and tolerance. And coexistence," it added.
The Pope has long sought a trip to Iraq and told a meeting of Catholic aid agencies last year that he wanted to travel there in 2020, CNN citing Vatican News reported.
"I think constantly of Iraq -- where I want to go next year -- in the hope that it can face the future through the peaceful and shared pursuit of the common good on the part of all elements of society, including the religious, and not fall back into hostilities sparked by the simmering conflicts of the regional powers," Francis said during the June 2019 meeting.
On Monday, Iraqi President Barham Salih called the planned visit "a message of peace to Iraqis of all religions."
"The journey of Pope Francis to Mesopotamia - the cradle of civilization, the birthplace of Abraham, father of the faithful - will be a message of peace to Iraqis of all religions & serve to affirm our common values of justice & dignity," Salih said in a tweet.
CNN reported that Around 1 per cent of Iraq's population is Christian from a "number of denominations". The country has seen an exodus of Christians in recent years as Iraq was wracked by cycles of violence, including the rise of ISIS. Terrorist groups have repeatedly targeted churches since the 2003 US invasion which triggered civil unrest.
Prior to the pandemic, Pope Francis visited several Muslim-majority countries, including the United Arab Emirates. His trip to the UAE in February 2019 marked the first-ever visit by a pontiff to the Arabian peninsula. (ANI)