Pope urges end to violence as he makes historic Iraq visit
No pope has ever visited Iraq, home to one of the world s oldest Christian communities
5 March 2021 • 4:33pm
Pope Francis visits the Syro-Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad
Credit: Sam Tarling
Pope Francis landed in Baghdad on Friday on the first ever papal visit to Iraq, a deeply symbolic and potentially dangerous trip to rally the country s dwindling Christian population.
The 84-year old was greeted on the runway by Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, an honour guard in white plumed helmets, and lines of dancing men and women wearing the traditional folkloric costumes of Iraq s numerous ethnic groups.
pontiff in great britain come september. thank you father. this is word now that iraqi forces have foiled a 9/11-style al-qaeda plot in iraq. it involves plans to hijack aircraft and fly them into shiite holy shines. the potential loss of life and the fallout across the middle east would have been awful. we will have a live report from the pentagon on this important story just breaking now moments away. and yesterday, the tape and today, the fallout from it. a major update on a story we put on the docket in kelly s court. backlash now for some police accused of beating a maryland college student senseless, right after this break. stay with us.