Pope Francis’ Apostolic Journeys to the Holy Land (2014) and Iraq (2021)

Under the theme Ut Unum Sint—”that they may be one”—Pope Francis’ pilgrimage to the Holy Land was a reaffirmation of Jesus’ prayer during the Last Supper and of the Catholic commitment to Christian unity. The Pope’s itinerary commenced in Jordan, which is often overlooked in references to the Holy Land. In addition to celebrating Mass at the Amman International Stadium, Pope Francis met with refugees and young people in the Latin Church in Bethany Beyond the Jordan. Only a few hundred metres away, Pope Francis reverently touched the water sanctified by the Baptism of Our Lord.

The subsequent two days of this apostolic journey took place on the western side of the River Jordan. On Sunday, May 25, 2014, on his way to celebrate Mass in Bethlehem’s Manger Square, Pope Francis surprised everyone with an unscripted stop of his motorcade as he got out of his car to pray silently at the massive graffiti-filled concrete wall that separates Bethlehem from Israel. Following the Mass, the Pope greeted refugee children at the Dheisheh Palestinian refugee camp. After an official welcoming ceremony at Tel Aviv airport, Francis proceeded to Jerusalem to participate in an ecumenical event commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the 1964 meeting. He met with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and together they issued a Common Declaration. On the third and final day of the visit, Francis put his concern for interreligious dialogue and peace in the foreground when he met the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the two chief rabbis of Israel. His final meetings with priests, religious, and seminarians at the Mount of Olives and a meeting with the Ordinaries of the Holy Land in the Room of the Cenacles, highlighted his closeness to Christian community in the Holy Land. Francis’ pilgrimage to the Holy Land happened less than two weeks before the launch of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS or ISIS) in Iraq’s second city, Mosul, on June 6, 2014. ISIS, disparagingly known as Daesh in Arabic, went on to control a third of Iraqi territory and extensive parts of Syria. Six million people were displaced in Iraq alone, among them tens of thousands of Christians. The Ezidi (Yazidi) ethnic religious minority bore the brunt of violence. Thousands were killed or kidnapped, and hundreds of thousands of survivors become displaced.

Even when security risks were still very high, Pope Francis had an apostolic journey to Iraq on his mind. In a brief encounter during an audience of Catholic donor agencies in June 2019, Pope Francis told me to pray that his security staff would agree to his desire to visit Iraq. Then came COVID-19. Yet even before both COVID and the security risks had fully subsided, Pope Francis made a memorable apostolic journey to Iraq from March 5-8, 2021. Within two hours of his arrival in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Pope Francis met with bishops, priests, religious, seminarians and catechists in the Syriac Catholic Church of Our Lady of Salvation, where 48 Christians including two priests were martyred in a bloody attack on October 31, 2010. The next day, the Pope made a landmark visit to the highest Shi’ite authority, Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, at his home in Najaf, before proceeding to an interreligious event in Ur, revered as Abraham’s homeland by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. On Sunday, March 7, Pope Francis travelled first to Mosul, where he prayed amid the ruins of churches in Hosh al-Bea and launched a powerful message of peace and love as an antidote to hatred and violence. In his autobiography Hope, published in January 2025, Francis revealed that there had been two thwarted attempts on his life as he visited Mosul. At midday, Francis was flown by helicopter to the nearby Christian town of Qaraqosh, that had been devasted by the Islamic State. Pope Francis recited the Angelus in the restored Church of the Immaculate Conception, in the presence of thousands of people who lined the streets and filled the Church. Thus, Francis irrevocably placed this tiny town—also known as Baghdeda or Al Hamdaniya—on the worldwide map of Christianity and acknowledged the fortitude of its Christians. Francis then flew to Erbil, the capital city of the Kurdistan Region, where he celebrated Mass before a crowd of some 10,000 Christians in the Franso Hariri Football Stadium. Even though I was the only Jesuit in Iraq at the time, Francis remained faithful to his custom of meeting with Jesuits in the countries he visited. After the Mass, I was let into the improvised sacristy where, together with Fr. Provincial Michael Zammit who visited me for the occasion, and Bishop Antoine Audo, who travelled from Aleppo in Syria with a group of young people, we had a few minutes to greet Pope Francis.

Pope Francis’ apostolic journeys to conflict zones and far-flung territories gave hope to millions of Christians and respectfully brought the message of human fraternity and peace to the ends of the earth. May the Lord continue to make of us a missionary Church, joyfully spreading the joy of the Gospel.

Joseph Cassar SJ