Pope makes historic visit to Iraq

Head of the Roman Catholic church Pope Francis has wrapped up his historic visit to Iraq.

The 84 year old pontiff's tour of Iraq was his first trip abroad in over a year due to the pandemic. It was set against a backdrop of growing Covid cases and a rise in terrorism in the country.

But it was a journey which, according to the Vatican, he wanted to make to demonstrate the importance of Iraq and its people.

Francis's agenda included meeting the country's top Shia Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Sistani. Aiming to deepen interfaith dialogue, the two religious leaders agreed that both Muslims and Christians have a place in Iraq.

Iraq's Christian population has plummeted in the last two decades from 1.5 million to just 250,000. Under ISIS's reign of terror, many Christians fled the country or were killed.

On Sunday, Francis spoke at the Al-Tahera Church in the northern city of Mosul. The church is the oldest of at least 14 Christian places of worship devastated by ISIS jihadists.

Pope Francis: "Today we raise our voices in prayer to Almighty God for all the victims of war and armed conflict. Here in Mosul, the tragic consequences of war and hostility are all too evident."

On Sunday, the final day of his trip, Francis led thousands of worshippers in a mass in the sports stadium of Erbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan region.

Pope Francis: "Now the time draws near for my return to Rome. Yet Iraq will always remain with me, in my heart."

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