The land of Abraham, the Iraq the Pope wants to visitPope on the Day of Human Fraternity: "Either we are brothers, or everything falls apart".Pope to diplomats: "Education is the antidote to individualistic culture".The Pope's trip to Iraq is a manifestation of, as he said this morning in the audience with the Diplomatic Corps, "an important aspect of the solicitude of the Successor of Peter for the People of God spread throughout the world", as well as "a favorable opportunity to deepen, in a spirit of exchange and dialogue, the relationship between the different religions".
The Pope's visit to the country will include meetings with political authorities and civil society, as well as with bishops, priests, religious and seminarians. On Saturday 6, there will be a intercollegiate meeting on the Ur PlainHe will conclude the day with a Eucharistic celebration at the Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph in Baghdad.
On Sunday, March 7, the Pontiff has several appointments. The Pope will travel to Iraqi Kurdistan and the Nineveh Plains. He will visit Erbil and Mosul, a city for years in the hands of the self-styled Islamic State, where there will be a prayer of suffrage for the victims of the war in Hosh al-Bieaa, the church square.
That same morning he will visit Qaraqosh, in the Nineveh Plains, a few kilometers from Mosul, occupied by the Islamic State until 2016. Francis will visit the church of the "Immaculate Conception" to visit the community of Qaraqosh, to whom he will address a speech, and then pray the Marian prayer of the Angelus.
In the afternoon, the Pope will return to Erbil to celebrate Holy Mass at the "Franso Hariri" Stadium. At the end of the celebration, Francis will return to Baghdad, from where he will leave for Rome on Monday morning at the end of the farewell ceremony.
Official program
Friday, March 5, 2021
ROME - BAGHDAD
Tomorrow
Departure by air from Rome/Fiumicino international airport to Baghdad
Afternoon
Arrival at Baghdad International Airport
Official reception at Baghdad International Airport
Meeting with the Prime Minister in the VIP lounge at Baghdad international airport
Official welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Baghdad
Courtesy visit to the President of the Republic in the private study of the Presidential Palace in Baghdad
Meeting with the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps in the hall of the Presidential Palace in Baghdad.
Address of the Holy Father
Meeting with bishops, priests, religious, seminarians and catechists in the Syro-Catholic cathedral of "Our Lady of Salvation" in Baghdad.
Address of the Holy Father
Saturday, March 6, 2021
BAGHDAD - NAJAF - UR - BAGHDAD
Tomorrow
Departure by plane to Najaf
Arrival at Najaf airport
Courtesy visit to Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Al-Husaymi Al-Sistani in Najaf
Departure by plane to Nassiriya
Arrival at Nassiriya airport
Interreligious meeting in the Ur Plain
Address of the Holy Father
Departure by plane to Baghdad
Arrival at Baghdad International Airport
Afternoon
Holy Mass in the Chaldean cathedral of "St. Joseph" in Baghdad
Homily of the Holy Father
Sunday, March 7, 2021
BAGHDAD - ERBIL - MOSUL - QARAQOSH - ERBIL - BAGHDAD
Tomorrow
Departure by plane to Erbil
Arrival at Erbil airport
Welcome of the religious and civil authorities of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan at the Presidential VIP Lounge of Erbil Airport.
Departure by helicopter to Mosul
Arrival at Mosul landing field
Prayer of suffrage for war victims in Hosh al-Bieaa (Church Square) in Mosul
Prayer of the Holy Father
Departure by helicopter to Qaraqosh
Arrival at Qaraqosh landing field
Visit to the Qaraqosh community in the Church of the "Immaculate Conception" in Qaraqosh
Address of the Holy Father/ Angelus
Transfer to Erbil
Afternoon
Holy Mass at the "Franso Hariri" Stadium in Erbil
Homily of the Holy Father
Departure by plane to Baghdad
Arrival at Baghdad International Airport
Monday, March 8, 2021
BAGHDAD - ROME
Tomorrow
Farewell Ceremony at Baghdad International Airport
Departure by plane to Rome
Arrival at the Rome/Ciampino international airport
The motto of the visit
"We are all brothers" is the motto of Pope Francis' visit to Iraq, whose logo shows the Pope with a gesture of greeting to the country, represented on the map and by its symbols, the palm tree and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The logo also shows a white dove with an olive branch in its beak, symbol of peace, which flies the flags of the Holy See and the Republic of Iraq. Above the image is the motto of the visit in Arabic, Kurdish and Chaldean.
