Pope Francis Makes History, Becomes First Pontiff To Visit Iraq, Says 'I Come As Penitent'

The 84-year-old Pope landed at Baghdad International Airport at around 2 pm (local time) where he was greeted by Iran Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. 

Iraq Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi receiving Pope Francis upon his arrival in the capital Baghdad. (Image: AFP)

Baghdad: Pope Francis on Friday marked history by becoming the first-ever pope to land in Iraq, despite the raging Coronavirus pandemic and security concerns in the middle eastern country. As per reports, Pope landed in Iran and said that he felt duty-bound to visit because the country had suffered so much for so long. The 84-year-old Pope landed at Baghdad International Airport at around 2 pm (local time) where he was greeted by Iran Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. 

Soon after landing in the middle eastern country, Pope Francis took to Twitter and wrote: "I come as a penitent, asking forgiveness from Heaven and our brothers for so much destruction and cruelty; a pilgrim of peace, in the name of Christ, Prince of Peace. How we have prayed, in these years, for peace in #Iraq! God always listens. It is up to us to walk His paths."

"Only if we succeed in regarding each other, with our differences, as members of the same human family, can we begin an effective process of reconstruction and leave a better, more just and more human world to the future generations," he tweeted again with hashtags #ApostolicJourney and #Iraq. 

Francis' trip comes almost two decades after Pope John Paul II cancelled his visit in 1999 after talks with the government of then-President Saddam Hussein's broke down.

Pope is also scheduled to meet bishops and other clergy Our Lady of Salvation, a Syriac Catholic church in the capital city.

Pope Francis's visit to Iraq is touted to be crucial and he will urge country's dwindling Christian population to stay put and help rebuild the nation which has went through years of wars and persecution. 

As per a report by BCC, currently, there are about 250,000 Christians living in Iraq or 1 per cent of the country's total population and majority of them are based in the Nineveh Plain and Kurdistan Region.

On Saturday, he will visit the city of Najaf, where he will meet Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the leading spiritual leader of Iraqi Shia Muslims and one of the most senior clerics in Shia Islam. Some 10,000 Iraqi security personnel have been deployed to ensure the safety of the Pope.