by Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Feb 25, 2021 / 12:00 pm MT (CNA).- In a week’s time, Pope Francis is expected to make history by becoming the first pope to travel to Iraq. His March 5-8 trip will take him from excavations of historical biblical sites dating back thousands of

by Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Feb 15, 2021 / 06:30 am MT (CNA).- The Iraqi government has announced new COVID-19 restrictions, including the closure of all places of worship, less than three weeks before Pope Francis’ scheduled trip to Iraq. On Feb. 14 the health ministry of Iraq wrote that

CNA Staff, Jan 14, 2021 / 06:00 am MT (CNA).- A cardinal has called on Iraqi Catholics to pray at Sunday Masses that Pope Francis will be able to visit their country in March. Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, issued the prayer on Jan. 14

by Courtney Mares Vatican City, Dec 7, 2020 / 05:55 am MT (CNA).- The Vatican announced Monday that Pope Francis will travel to Iraq in March 2021. He will be the first pope to ever visit the country, which is still recovering from the devastation inflicted by the Islamic State.

By Courtney Mares Mosul, Iraq, Dec 19, 2019 / 03:01 am (CNA).- The Great Al-Tahira Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Bakhdida remains charred black inside, five years after the Islamic State plundered and set it aflame; however, in 2020 the Syriac Catholic cathedral will be restored as Iraq’s largest Christian community

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM SEOUL, South Korea — Pope Francis said the use of force can be justified to stop “unjust aggressors” such as Islamic State militants in northeastern Iraq, but he declined to endorse U.S. military airstrikes against the militants and

The following is a text of a letter from Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr to the pastors of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati urging prayer for peace next Sunday.  “Dear Father, Many of you have heard the repeated calls of our Holy Father to pray for peace in Iraq. Violence there has

By Doreen Abi Raad Catholic News Service  BEIRUT — Mideast Catholic and Orthodox patriarchs denounced the “total international silence” on the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and called for Muslim religious authorities to issue fatwas, or legal edicts, banning attacks against Christians and “other innocents.”

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Given the “grave situation in Iraq,” Pope Francis has asked Cardinal Fernando Filoni to travel to the region to meet church and government officials, but especially to meet Christians chased from their homes by militants of the Islamic State.