2021-03-05 · Baghdad, Iraq (and Ur, Mosul, Qaraqosh, Erbil)
Pope Francis Visits Iraq
In March 2021, Pope Francis became the first pope in history to visit Iraq, traveling to Baghdad, Ur, Mosul, and the plains of Nineveh to meet with one of the oldest and most persecuted Christian communities in the world.
The trip almost did not happen. Iraq was still recovering from the war against ISIS, COVID-19 had shut down most international travel, and rocket attacks hit Baghdad the week before the visit. Francis went anyway. From March 5 to 8, 2021, he traveled across a country where Christianity predates Islam by six centuries but where the Christian population had been reduced from 1.5 million to fewer than 250,000 by decades of war, sanctions, and targeted persecution. The itinerary was extraordinary. At the ancient site of Ur, in the desert of southern Iraq, Francis held an interfaith meeting on the plain where tradition says Abraham was born — the patriarch claimed by Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. In Najaf, he met Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most influential Shia Muslim cleric in the world. Sistani, who rarely receives visitors, told Francis that Christians should live as full citizens with all their rights. It was a statement that carried enormous weight in Iraq. In Mosul, Francis prayed in a square surrounded by the ruined shells of four churches that ISIS had destroyed. In Qaraqosh, on the plains of Nineveh, he visited a Syriac Catholic community that had been entirely driven out by ISIS in 2014 and had only recently returned to rebuild. The Mass in Erbil drew ten thousand people to a stadium despite the pandemic. For Iraqi Christians — many of whom had wondered whether the world had forgotten them — the pope's presence was confirmation that someone at the highest level of the Church knew they existed and cared. Francis called it one of the most important trips of his pontificate.
Why it matters
First papal visit to Iraq in history, bringing global attention to one of the oldest and most endangered Christian communities and advancing Catholic-Muslim dialogue at the highest levels.
What Happened
From March 5 to 8, 2021, Pope Francis made the first papal visit to Iraq. He held an interfaith gathering at the ancient site of Ur, met Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf, prayed among the ruins of destroyed churches in Mosul, visited the Syriac Catholic community in Qaraqosh, and celebrated Mass for ten thousand people in Erbil. The trip took place despite COVID-19 restrictions and ongoing security threats.
Why It Still Matters
The visit put Iraqi Christians — who trace their faith back to the apostle Thomas and the earliest centuries of the Church — back on the world's radar. It also advanced the dialogue between Catholicism and Islam in a concrete, personal way. Francis's meeting with al-Sistani produced a statement affirming the rights of Christians that carried real authority in Iraq. For a community that had been decimated by violence and displacement, the pope's willingness to come to them was a powerful statement about the Church's solidarity with its most vulnerable members.