VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis said on Monday he wants to travel to Iraq next year, which would be the first ever papal trip there.
Francis made the improvised remark in an address to members of a group of charities that help Christians in the Middle East and other areas.
“A constant thought accompanies me when I think of Iraq,” he said in prepared remarks, then adding: “Where I have the will to go next year.”
Wars and conflicts have led to an exodus of Christians in Iraq and some other countries in the Middle East.
Iraq’s small Christian population of several hundred thousand suffered particular hardships when Daesh controlled large parts of the country, but have recovered freedoms since the militants were pushed out.
Iraq is home to many different eastern rite churches, both Catholic and Orthodox.
In 2000, the late Pope John Paul wanted to visit the ancient Iraqi city of Ur, traditionally held to be the birthplace of Abraham. It was to have been the first leg of a three-step pilgrimage to Iraq, Egypt and Israel.
But negotiations with the government of then Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein broke down and he was unable to go.
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Francis wants first papal visit to Iraq
Francis wants first papal visit to Iraq
- Iraq is home to many different eastern rite churches, both Catholic and Orthodox
- Iraq’s small Christian population of several hundred thousand suffered particular hardships when Daesh controlled large parts of the country
UN delivers vital aid to Sudan’s Kordofan: WFP
- Life-saving aid from several UN agencies reaches 130,000 people in Dilling and Kadugli
- The famine-hit South Kordofan state capital Kadugli had endured a punishing RSF siege
CAIRO: A convoy of life-saving aid from several UN agencies has reached two cut-off cities in Sudan’s Kordofan region, currently the fiercest frontline in the nearly three-year war.
“This marks the first major delivery of assistance to the area in three months,” the World Food Programme said in a statement on Tuesday.
It said 26 trucks had delivered essential supplies including medicine and food for more than 130,000 people in Dilling and Kadugli.
Since April 2023, the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in a bitter struggle for control of the country.
The famine-hit South Kordofan state capital Kadugli had endured a punishing RSF siege for much of the conflict, before the army broke the blockade this month.
Nearby Dilling, where the army also recently broke an RSF siege, is believed to be experiencing similar famine conditions.
The cities had come to exemplify the violence in Kordofan, where hundreds of thousands face starvation under daily drone strikes.
Dilling lies halfway between Kadugli and North Kordofan capital, El-Obeid.
Violent clashes and ongoing insecurity along the main route linking the three cities had “forced the convoy to halt for more than 40 days,” the WFP said.
The trucks reached Dilling by taking “a longer and more difficult off-road passage,” it added.
“Routes must stay open and predictable so vital assistance can reach people without interruption, including communities that have been cut off for far too long,” said Makena Walker, acting country director for WFP in Sudan.
Since seizing El-Fasher — the army’s last stronghold in western Darfur — last October, the RSF have pushed eastward into oil-rich Kordofan.
The vast agricultural region lies between RSF-controlled Darfur in the west and army-held areas in the north, east and center.
The nearly three-year war has killed tens of thousands, displaced 11 million and triggered what the UN calls one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
With truce talks deadlocked for months, the UN has repeatedly urged warring parties to respect international humanitarian law and allow access for aid.
“This marks the first major delivery of assistance to the area in three months,” the World Food Programme said in a statement on Tuesday.
It said 26 trucks had delivered essential supplies including medicine and food for more than 130,000 people in Dilling and Kadugli.
Since April 2023, the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in a bitter struggle for control of the country.
The famine-hit South Kordofan state capital Kadugli had endured a punishing RSF siege for much of the conflict, before the army broke the blockade this month.
Nearby Dilling, where the army also recently broke an RSF siege, is believed to be experiencing similar famine conditions.
The cities had come to exemplify the violence in Kordofan, where hundreds of thousands face starvation under daily drone strikes.
Dilling lies halfway between Kadugli and North Kordofan capital, El-Obeid.
Violent clashes and ongoing insecurity along the main route linking the three cities had “forced the convoy to halt for more than 40 days,” the WFP said.
The trucks reached Dilling by taking “a longer and more difficult off-road passage,” it added.
“Routes must stay open and predictable so vital assistance can reach people without interruption, including communities that have been cut off for far too long,” said Makena Walker, acting country director for WFP in Sudan.
Since seizing El-Fasher — the army’s last stronghold in western Darfur — last October, the RSF have pushed eastward into oil-rich Kordofan.
The vast agricultural region lies between RSF-controlled Darfur in the west and army-held areas in the north, east and center.
The nearly three-year war has killed tens of thousands, displaced 11 million and triggered what the UN calls one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
With truce talks deadlocked for months, the UN has repeatedly urged warring parties to respect international humanitarian law and allow access for aid.
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