Pope: Sowing seeds of peace, inter-religious ties in Iraq Saturday March 13 2021 Summary Mr Augustine Bahemuka says: Christians were perceived as an existential threat to Iraq and hence persecuted through attacks... Advertisement Pope Francis just completed his four-day apostolic journey to the Republic of Iraq. This marked moments of great significance in the religious history of our modern era on a number of fronts, but most important was the fulfillment of the papal desire to visit this country. Pope Francis’ insistence to visit Iraq is also to be viewed through the lenses of papal continuity. Twenty-two years ago, Pope John Paul II expressed his desire to visit the biblical city of Ur to mark the beginning of the Great Jubilee in 2000, but the trip was declined by President Saddam Hussein.