Iraq welcomes Pope’s historic visit in March as ‘message of peace’

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Pope Francis's visit to Iraq in March will be a "historic event," the government in Baghdad said after the Vatican announced Monday the pontiff's first trip since the coronavirus pandemic.

It will be the first visit by a pope to the country.

"It symbolizes a message of peace to Iraq and the whole region," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

President Barham Saleh officially invited Pope Francis to visit Iraq in July 2019, hoping it would help the country "heal" after years of strife.

A few hundred thousand Christians are left in Iraq following sectarian warfare after the 2003 US-led invasion and the Islamic State group's sweep through a third of the country in 2014. — Agence France-Presse