Pope Francis arrives on first visit to Iraq

Baghdad, March 5: Pope Francis arrived in Iraq on a visit to rally the country’s dwindling Christian community after decades of war.

The pontiff’s landmark visit has been months in the making and is the first Papal visit to Iraq, one that eluded his predecessors.

The Pope urged Iraqis to value their religious minorities and consider them a precious resource to protect, not an obstacle to eliminate as he opened the first-ever Papal visit to Iraq with a plea for tolerance and fraternity.

Pope Francis told President Barham Salih and other Iraqi authorities gathered at the Baghdad palace inside the heavily fortified Green Zone that no one should be considered a secondclass citizen.

He said Iraqis of all faiths deserve to have the same rights and protections as the Shia Muslim majority.

He said, “Only if we learn to look beyond our differences and see each other as members of the same human family will we be able to begin an effective process of rebuilding and leave to future generations a better, more just and more humane world.”

Only if we learn to look beyond our differences and see each other as members of the same human family will we be able to begin an effective process of rebuilding... — Pope Francis