Pope urges religious leaders to denounce 'blasphemy' of violence in God's name
- Mar 6, 2021
Despite renewed security concerns after a series of recent terrorist attacks, one of Iraq’s top prelates has said preparations for Pope Francis’s upcoming visit are still underway.
Sciatica is not life-threatening, it doesn’t shorten the lifespan, and it doesn’t pose the risk of either physical or mental incapacity. That’s not to say it’s trivial – as Francis himself said talking about it in 2013, “I don’t wish it on anyone!” – but it’s not the sort of thing that raises questions about the pope’s ability to govern.
Pope Francis told Uruguay’s new ambassador to the Holy See that a future visit to the country as well as to his native Argentina is still very much on the table.
Locals say Pope Francis’s upcoming trip to Iraq is both a much-needed sign of encouragement for the battered local Christian community and an opportunity to promote unity and mutual respect among the country’s diverse population.
Pope Francis’s visit to Iraq in March will carry huge significance for the nation’s small and persecuted Christian minority living in an ancient culture with deep Christian roots, but it takes on special meaning given the coronavirus pandemic.
After a year of no travel due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis will make a three-day visit to Iraq in March – a trip he had hoped to take last year in a show of support to the nation’s small Christian minority, but which was impossible due to security concerns and COVID-19.
“Right now we’re experiencing a fraternity of pain all over the word,” Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi said, “a pain that strikes even the most powerful people in the world. We’ve felt our fragility, that we are all fragile.”
The Vatican representative to East Timor said a visit by Pope Francis has been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.