Published 12/18/2024 18:00
Pope Francis had a difficult time facing assassination attempts in 2021 when he visited Iraq. The revelations are part of an autobiography of the supreme pontiff, which had excerpts published by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Still unpublished, the book entitled “Hope” contains excerpts from moments in the capital Baghdad. Upon landing in the city, Francisco was informed by British intelligence about the possibility of an attack during his official trip during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This was the first visit by a pope to Iraq, even though he had been advised against making the trip several times due to the advance of the Islamic State group.
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As stated in the text, at least two attempts to attack him were discovered. One by a female suicide bomber who intended to carry out the attack in Mosul, as well as a van with explosives that had the same fate.
In the book, Pope Francis reveals that when he questioned the security team about potential terrorists, the response was that the Iraqi police, once informed, located and eliminated the attackers.
On that occasion he stayed in the country for three days and visited Baghdad, Mosul, Qaragosh, Ur and Erbil. In one of the activities he participated in an ecumenical ceremony with other religious people from Iraq.
The visit took place at a time when the Christian population in the country fell to less than 1%, between 300 and 400 thousand, having already reached between 6% and 8%. Estimates place that the country has around 46 million inhabitants, around 95% of whom are Muslims.
*With information from international agencies
Source: vermelho.org.br
