Pope Francis landed in war-battered Iraq Friday on his first-ever papal visit to the country.
The pope defied security fears and the pandemic to comfort one of the world’s oldest and most persecuted Christian communities in Iraq.
His plane landed at 1:55 pm (1055 GMT) in Baghdad International Airport, where Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi will welcome him.
“I’m happy to resume travel, and this symbolic trip is also a duty to a land that has been martyred for years,” Francis told journalists aboard his plane.