Pontiff travels to northern city of Mosul to pray for war victims on last day of historic visit
Pope Francis arrived in northern Iraq on Sunday, to pray in the ruins of churches damaged or destroyed by Islamic State extremists and celebrate an open-air mass on the last day of the first-ever papal visit to the country.
The Vatican hopes that the landmark visit will rally the country’s Christian communities and encourage them to stay despite decades of war and instability. Francis has also delivered a message of tolerance and fraternity between religions to Muslim leaders, including in a historic meeting Saturday with Iraq’s top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
