Pope Francis revealed in his autobiography that two attacks that were supposed to take place during his visit to Iraq were thwarted. “This was also very shocking for me. This was also the poisoned fruit of war,” the Pope wrote.
Pope Francis revealed in his autobiography, to be published in January, that two attacks scheduled to take place during his visit to Iraq were thwarted.
Fragments of the book were published in the Corriere della Sera daily on Tuesday, the pope's 88th birthday.
Vatican. Pope reveals details of attack
The pope said he had been alerted and informed of a report by British security officials who had learned of two planned attacks in which a young woman with explosives in her vest planned to blow herself up during a visit to Mosul. “Moreover, the trucks were to be traveling at full speed with the same intent,” Pope wrote.
See also: Francis' historic visit. No pope has ever visited this island.
When the pope asked about the attackers the next day, he was told by the Vatican gendarmerie that “they were gone.” “Iraqi police captured them and blew them up. This was also very shocking for me. This was also the poisoned fruit of war,” we read in an excerpt from the biography.
Pope Francis of Iraq. “They advised me not to take this trip.”
Francis' visit to Iraq was the first by a pope. This was considered to be an extremely dangerous journey, both for safety reasons and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic at the time. The Pope explained that he decided to go to the country despite the warnings.
See also: Pope Francis' bruise under his chin. believers are worried
“Almost everyone was against the trip, my first in this part of the Middle East wracked by extremist violence and jihadist desecration, but I really wanted to go and felt I should. I felt it,” the Pope admitted.
There he met the following people: He met with persecuted Christians and held a historic meeting with Grand Master Sistani, one of the leading authorities of Shiite Islam. He was the first Roman bishop to appear in Baghdad, the ancient city of Ur, Mosul and Qaraqosh, both formerly under Islamic State control, and Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan.
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