Pope Francis Ends Iraq Visit With Farewell Ceremony in Baghdad

Pope Francis ended his visit to Iraq with a farewell ceremony at the the Baghdad International Airport Monday. The pope arrived in northern Iraq on Sunday, where he urged the country’s Christians to forgive the injustices against them by Muslim extremists. He visited the wrecked shells of churches and met ecstatic crowds in the community’s historic heartland, which was nearly erased by the Islamic State group’s horrific reign.

“Fraternity is more durable than fratricide, hope is more powerful than hatred, peace more powerful than war,” the pontiff said during prayers for the dead in the city of Mosul, with the call for tolerance that has been the central message of his four-day visit to Iraq.

At each stop in northern Iraq, the remnants of its Christian population turned out, jubilant, ululating and decked out in colorful dress. Heavy security prevented Francis from plunging into the crowd as he would normally. Nonetheless, they simply seemed overjoyed that he had come and that they had not been forgotten.

It was a sign of the desperation for support among an ancient community uncertain whether it can hold on. The traditionally Christian towns dotting the Nineveh Plains of the north emptied out in 2014 as Christians — as well as many Muslims — fled the Islamic State group’s onslaught. Only a few have returned to their homes since the defeat of IS in Iraq was declared four years ago, and the rest remain scattered elsewhere in Iraq or abroad.

Bells rang out for the pope's arrival in the town of Qaraqosh.

“The road to a full recovery may still be long, but I ask you, please, not to grow discouraged," Francis told a packed Church of the Immaculate Conception. "What is needed is the ability to forgive, but also the courage not to give up.”

The Qaraqosh church has been extensively renovated after being vandalized by IS militants during their takeover of the town, making it a symbol of recovery efforts.

Iraq's Christian population, which has existed here since the time of Christ, has dwindled from around 1.5 million before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that plunged the country into chaos to just a few hundred thousand today.

Francis's visit, on its last day Sunday, aimed to encourage them to stay, rebuild and restore what he called Iraq's “intricately designed carpet” of faiths and ethnic groups.

Public health experts had expressed concerns ahead of the trip that large gatherings could serve as superspreader events for the coronavirus in a country suffering from a worsening outbreak where few have been vaccinated. The pope and members of his delegation have been vaccinated but most Iraqis have not.

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