Pope Celebrates Largest Mass Of Historic Iraq Trip
By Catherine Marciano
03/07/21 AT 8:38 PM
Pope Francis vowed Sunday to keep Iraq in his heart, as he concluded the largest mass and final public event of a historic trip meant to encourage the country's dwindling Christian community and deepen interfaith dialogue.
The pontiff celebrated among thousands of smiling worshippers in a sports stadium in the Kurdistan region's capital Arbil, after visiting Christian survivors of the Islamic State group's reign of terror.
Rows of seats were set out in the ruins of the Syriac Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception in Mosul's Old City ahead of Pope Francis' visit Photo: AFP / Zaid AL-OBEIDI