Pope Francis Explains His Mission In Iraq

<p><em>Pope Francis is currently on a state visit to Iraq<&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a> <&sol;strong>reports that <strong>Pope<&sol;strong> Francis has arrived Baghdad in an Alitalia airline which touched down at the Ayn al Asad military base in Baghdad on Friday for a three-day visit to Iraq&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The Pope was received by the Prime Minister of Iraq&comma; Mustafa al-Kadhimi&comma; by a small coloured guard that lined the two sides of the stretched red carpet at the airport&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;His Alitalia flight was accompanied by U&period;S&period; aircraft from the Ayn al Asad military base after entering Iraqi airspace&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The Pope defiled all warnings of travel especially at this pandemic period&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Information has it that he insisted saying&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I am happy to travel again&comma;” the pope said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;By choosing Iraq as his first destination since the pandemic began&comma; Francis waded directly into the issues of war and peace&comma; and poverty and religious strife&comma; in an ancient biblical land&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This trip is emblematic&comma;” he said&comma; calling it &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;a duty to a land martyred for many years&period;”<br &sol;>&NewLine;Historically&comma; this is the first time a Catholic Pontiff would be visiting Iraq despite the country’s historical antecedent with Christianity&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>During their tenure&comma; Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI had to scuttle plans to visit the remaining Christians in the country which has been reduced to about 500&comma;000 from several millions they were before war ravaged the country&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Pope Francis was driven out of the airport in a black BMW&period; He waved to group of faithful behind on the side of the highway&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;He is expected to visit battle-scarred churches and desert pilgrimage sites&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Pope Francis&comma; an Argentine and originally named Jorge Mario Bergoglio&comma; became <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">Pope<&sol;a> Francis on March 13&comma; 2013 as the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;He is 84 years old having been born on 17 December 1936 and attended Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;