SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Pope Francis said on Thursday he will visit Iraq as a “pilgrimage of peace”, paying tribute to those who have suffered from years of violence.
Francis, who is to visit Iraq on Friday, offered his hand to “brothers and sisters of other religion”, according to AFP.
He also highlighted the heavy toll paid by Iraq’s Christian communities, saying there had been “too many martyrs”, the news agency reported.
“I long to meet you, to see your faces, to visit your land, ancient and extraordinary cradle of civilization,” the pope said in a video message.
“I come as a pilgrim, a penitent pilgrim to implore forgiveness and reconciliation from the Lord after years of war and terrorism,” he added.
“I come as a pilgrim of peace in search of fraternity, animated by the desire to pray together and to walk together, also with the brothers and sisters of other religions.”
The trip by the 84-year-old leader of the world’s Catholics was announced in December, and will take in the capital Baghdad, as well as Ur, a city linked to the Old Testament figure of Abraham, and Erbil, Mosul and Qaraqosh in the plain of Nineveh.
The pope said on Wednesday that he must visit Iraq because the people there “cannot be let down for a second time”, after his predecessor John Paul was not allowed to go in 2000.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for Francis said the pope would be travelling by armored vehicle and that he would not be meeting crowds.
“This is a particular situation, that’s why the transports will all be in a closed vehicle, meaning it will be complicated to see the pope on the streets,” AFP quoted spokesman Matteo Brunei as saying.
“There will be a number of meetings but none will be more than a few hundred people,” he added.
