Pope Francis reveals foiled assassination plots in Iraq visit
Pope Francis revealed that during his visit to Iraq in March 2021, two assassination attempts on his life were thwarted. It is known what happened to the would-be assassins. This topic is discussed in the autobiography set to be released in January. A fragment was published on Tuesday, on the pope's 88th birthday, by the newspaper "Corriere della Sera".
Pope Francis, in his autobiography, which will be published in January, disclosed that during his March 2021 visit to Iraq, two assassination attempts on his life were foiled. Fragments of the book were published by the newspaper "Corriere della Sera" on the occasion of the pope's 88th birthday.
Dangerous journey to Iraq
In the book, the pope confessed: "Almost everyone advised me against this trip, the first in this corner of the Middle East, ravaged by extremist violence and desecrations by jihadists."
Moreover, during that time, the COVID-19 pandemic was ongoing, and the apostolic nuncio in Baghdad, Archbishop Mitja Leskovar, was infected with the virus. Despite this, Francis felt he should go there, although the threat to his safety was very high.
According to the pope, the police alerted the Vatican gendarmerie about intelligence from English special services, indicating that a young woman carrying explosives intended to carry out a suicide bombing in Mosul during the pope's visit. Furthermore, there were reports of a truck planned to target the same event.
Thwarted attempts on the pope's life: what about the assassins?
After the visit to Mosul, the pope asked the Vatican gendarmerie about the fate of the failed assassins. He was told, "they are no longer there."
The Iraqi police had intercepted them, and detonated them. That, too, was very striking to me. This, too, was the poisoned fruit of war
Francis emphasized that this event deeply moved him, calling it "the poisoned fruit of war".
During his visit to Iraq, which Francis made as the first bishop of Rome, the pope appeared in Baghdad, the ancient city of Ur, and in Mosul and Karakosh, which were previously under the control of the Islamic State, as well as in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Let's recall: on Tuesday, December 17, the pope celebrated his 88th birthday. Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born on December 17, 1936, in a poor district of Buenos Aires, in a family of Italian immigrants. He was elected pope at the age of 77.
Despite his advanced age and health issues, the pope is not slowing down and is not giving up travelling. Next year he plans to visit Turkey for the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. It is also possible that he will travel to the Canary Islands.
