Pope to visit Iraq in March 2021 (Vatican Press Office)

Pope to visit Iraq in March 2021 (Vatican Press Office)

Catholic Culture

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Pope Francis plans to visit Iraq in March of next year, the Vatican has announced. The trip would be the Pontiff’s first voyage outside Italy since a November 2019 trip to Japan. Details of the visit have not yet been disclosed, and the Vatican acknowledged that plans may be subject to change because of the Covid epidemic.

Pope John Paul II had planned a visit to Iraq in December 1999, but the scheduled trip was cancelled, reportedly because of fear that Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s ruler at the time, would exploit the papal voyage for propaganda purposes.

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