what is pope francis like? i spent a lot of time | francis like?cal and _ francis like? i spent a lot of time with political and religious - francis like? i spent a lot of time | with political and religious leaders and i would say of everybody i have met, he exudes a calm that is quite extraordinary. i think he has our deep self—confidence and kind of humility that allows him... really he is calm and it affects everyone around him, genuinely extraordinary. to myanmar now, where an increasingly brutal crackdown by police and the military has not stopped protests against the military coup. today, security forces have continued firing tear gas on protesters gathered in yangon. the un's special envoy on myanmar has told the security council that there is "urgency for collective action". this is a scene that has become all too familiar in cities right across myanmar, from the northern mountain region to the major cities of yangon and naypyidaw in the south. young protesters have been standing up to police, banging on home—made shields, and marching for

this pope, pepe francis. _ about that but why now? rancis, has spent a _ about that but why now? this pope, pope francis, has spent a large - about that but why now? this pope, pope francis, has spent a large partj pope francis, has spent a large part of his pontificate see engaging in dialogue with people east and west, he has been very concerned about interreligious dialogue, he has been aware that relations between catholics and muslims took a dip during the previous pontificate see i pope benedict xvi, so he has been working towards this. in 2019, and the united immigrants, he signed a declaration of fraternity with a leading sunni cleric. —— united immigrants. now he is engaged with one of the great sea ayatollahs in iraq. so it is part of a dialogue that he want to develop. —— united immigrants. but being there now for christians in that part of the well is important. they had had so many years of persecution and many of them led and now there seems hope perhaps they can rebuild. —— united emirates. going to iraq, pope francis is

a michael ok welcome to the program pope francis is holding a groundbreaking meeting with the leading cleric in shia islam francis is in the city of najaf to hold talks with grand ayatollah ali sistani the meeting will be a major step in deepening ties to shia on friday pope francis met with christians in baghdad iraq's christian community has been growing smaller every year it's now estimated just half a 1000000 iraqi christians remain in the country. the pilgrim of peace as pope francis called himself is aware of the risks he is taking amid an ongoing pandemic and a regional conflict. this is an emblematic trip and it is my duty to a martyred land. but he is not traveling alone he's protected by one of the largest security deployments in recent iraqi history $10000.00 personnel by some estimates including special forces 24 hour drone surveillance and undercover intelligence officers it's the 1st visit by a pope to iraq and comes just 2 days after a rocket attack that seemed to put the trip in doubt. his 1st remarks in baghdad acknowledge the difficult days most iraqis have had to en

pope francis has met the influential shia muslim cleric grand ayatollah ali al—sistani during the first—ever francis celebrated a public mass at stjoseph�*s cathedral in baghdad. our rome correspondent mark lowen is travelling to visa live pictures from north of araghi web preferences will be arriving shortly to carry out three engagements in areas that had been taken by the islamic state in 2014. we await the pope's arrival. at the end of the red carpet, his claim of land. we hope to bring you that during this bulletin. but our correspondence mark lowen brings you the latest. peace in iraq will take time to flourish, but this visitor is determined to see it. along the narrow alleyways of najaf, and into a historic meeting of two faiths, catholic and shia islam. grand ayatollah ali al—sistani face—to—face with pope francis. at 90 and 84, it's taken long lives and generations to get here. the two religious leaders spoke of friendship to overcome oppression, rare unity after iraq's sectarian conflict. that theme of dialogue then spread further to the remains of ur, biblical birthplace of abrah

speaking out for dialogue, pope francis meets one of the most powerfulfigures in shia islam on day twof his historic trip to iraq. concerns over unnecessary self—isolation for school children in england because of inaccurate coronavirus test results. a warning for the un security council that anti—coup demonstrators in myanmar are beginning to lose faith in the organisation. they're usually a sign that spring has sprung, but why is this host of golden daffodils being left unpicked? in cricket, india thrash england by an innings and 25 runs in the fourth test to secure the series 3—1. and coming up — click looks at how gaming has helped people with their mental health through the pandemic. hello and good afternoon, welcome to bbc news. let's bring you some live pictures now from the chaldean cathedral of "saintjoseph" in baghdad where the pope is leading holy mass. the chaldean church is a branch of the catholic church dating back to the 16th century. this is the beginning of mass, the pope has just arrived to give the address. laboursinging singing. the numbers of questions are much di

in mosul for victims of war you know celebrates mass later in erbil the for thousands of people pope francis has used the trip so far to. for tolerance and unity among religious groups let's cross live now to some wonderful teen she joins us from erbil and has been following the pope's visit so far as one of the waiting for pope francis she to speak in a car of course. that give us a sense of why this is so significant and why the pope is giving this speech here. so current crotchet is a christian chant town east of mosul between mosul and below where we are at the moment and it is part of this area that is called the main there are planes which are prior to isis arrival they're relatively vibrant christian communities not just kind of course there are several other towns that were christian majority towns but of course when i saw i arrived in 2014 all of those christians fled the area some of them emigrated abroad others floats to the bill in the semi autonomous kurdish region and a few of them have returned in fact have a coach is one of the christian pounds a little plane but they have se

we start in iraq, where pope francis has begun the country's first ever papal visit.brought a message of tolerance, and urged the different religious communities to work together towards peace. our rome correspondent mark lowen is travelling on the papal plane. still masked, but no longer grounded. pope francis�* first trip since covid, his riskiest of all — a perilous pilgrimage to iraq in the grip of a pandemic. on the first ever papal visit here, he told me he was very happy, calling it "special". beneath the pomp is a significant message — dialogue between faiths and support for persecuted christians. no open—top popemobile here. in a country torn by conflict, an outstretched hand through an armoured car was all most will see. but less protection from the other danger here — the pandemic. little social distancing and few masks are what's worrying many. after a meeting with the president, the pope called for an end to extremism. translation: 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 b

pope francis hoping to persuade a dwindling christian community to remain.is country knows too well, the spirit of coexistence can quickly fade. mark lowen, bbc news, in iraq. nicola green, is an artist who has been painting religious leaders — and their meetings — for ten years — including pope francis — i asked her what it's like being in the same room. often i was the only person in the room other than usuallyjust to religious leaders meeting with each other. i have travelled all over the world. i was usually the only woman but second of all i was only allowed in there because i was not recording their words, everything i recorded was in drawings and photographs and a visual image. but i have spent ten years following and witnessing these interfaith meetings where religious leaders have been trying to work out together and individually how they speak about each other without undermining the absolute truth of their own faith and this is why religious leaders have not met in hisstory. it is really only the last decade since 9/11 that global religious leader

this is al jazeera and these are the headlines pope francis is in northern iraq for the 3rd day of his historic visit here dressed people in the town of car of course a major center for christians in iraq earlier he held a prayer service in mosul for fixin's of war pope francis has used the trip to appeal for tolerance and unity among religious groups you know. it's a matter of conversion of the hearts reconciliation and putting aside our differences we must all work together for the future for turn all of which recognizes a common humanity and together build a dialogue and forgive. a prominent muslim politician has reportedly died in myanmar after being arrested overnight by security forces his cause of death is unknown police have used tear gas and live fire to disperse anti could protesters in several cities see it turned out despite the escalation in violence to only chain has more from bangkok in their brain thailand clearly they have a target list of people there are many people who know they're on those target lists that have gone into hiding but the other role that these night

have returned this is the only church in mosul that has really opened its doors father hopes that pope francis visit to iraq will usher in more outside support to help rebuild mosul. we need the moral support of the pope to influence the international point of view to mobilize if it's to reform was devastated city not just in terms of infrastructure but also on the human side. but the rifts will take a long time to mend a christian from mosul works as a guard at the time had a church his family fled the city when i said to control and has yet to come back from here on the most important thing is security people are afraid to come back there is no stability to foster religious coexistence but the same unesco project includes plans to restore the great mosque of. this is where i saw declared the establishment of its caliphate in 2017 as security forces close. the armed group blew up the city's beloved leaning minaret a symbol of morsels identity. the one who built the better it was christian and the one who rebuilt the story was christian we lived and we wish that our relations returned to what

pope francis�*s first trip since covid is riskiest of all.less pilgrimage to iraq in the grip of a pandemic. on the first ever papal visit here he told me he was very happy, calling it special. beneath the pomp is a significant message, dialogue between faiths and support for persecuted christians. no open top pope mobile here in a country torn by conflict an outstretched hand through an armoured car was all most will see. but less protection from the other danger here, the pandemic. little social distancing and few masks are what's worrying many. after a meeting with the president the pope called for in an end to extremism. translation: only if we live turning to look beyond our differences - and see each other as members of the same human family we will be able to begin an effective process of rebuilding. for iraq's dwindling christians it's like salvation. hannah, who named her son after pope francis has watched as much of her community were killed orforced to flee. we've been dreaming of this visit day and night, she says. we must stop th

but what the bible teaches us says pope francis is that we must act tirelessly and peacemakers and that means that we should especially strive for reconciliation between the religion here's a short report. the pope has a message for the arab. muslim world as well religions want peace it's others who want war. travel to egypt in 2017. in cairo he met with grand ahmed. who is considered an important figure in sunni islam pope francis wanted to engage muslims as part of his initiative to promote worldwide brotherhood and peaceful coexistence 2 years later francis became the 1st pope to set foot on the arabian peninsula once again he met with grand in. their shared message faith others the brothers were sisters we must love and support both however received sharp criticism from religious hardliners for this convergence which is also sealed in writing. other stops on his travels in the service of world peace include morocco and now iraq despite the challenges the pope wants to carry his message of religious brotherhood to the country all 3 major monotheistic religions have their roots is the

pope francis hoping to persuade a dwindling christian community to remain. spirit of coexistence can quickly fade. mark lowen, bbc news, in iraq. the headlines on bbc news... pressure grows on the government over its pay offer to health service staff in england. more unions have joined the backlash. hundreds of rangers fans gather outside the ibrox stadium in glasgow, despite lockdown rules. the team's on the verge of winning the scottish premiership. pope francis delivers an impassioned condemnation of extremism and violence, during the first ever papal visit to iraq. one of the largest legislative packages in us history has passed its biggest hurdle by the narrowest possible margin. the senate has approved president biden�*s 1.9 trillion dollar coronavirus relief plan — the plan at the heart of his election campaign — by 50 votes to 49. the vote means millions of people will get a payment of fourteen—hundred dollars. and there'll be multi—billion dollar payouts to cities and states to help them deal with the effects of the pandemic which has now killed mor

pope francis has met the influential shia muslim cleric grand ayatollah ali al—sistani during the first—everlater, francis celebrated a public mass at st joseph's cathedral in baghdad. our rome correspondent mark lowen is travelling with the pope. peace in iraq will take time to flourish, but this visitor is determined to see it. along the narrow alleyways of najaf, and into a historic meeting of two faiths, catholic and shia islam. grand ayatollah ali al—sistani face—to—face with pope francis. at 90 and 84, it's taken long lives and generations to get here. the two religious leaders spoke of friendship to overcome oppression, rare unity after iraq's sectarian conflict. that theme of dialogue then spread further to the remains of ur, biblical birthplace of abraham. and in the shadow of its ancient citadel, pope francis met followers of other faiths. gestures of respect to those often sidelined, and victims of iraq's wars now brought together in a plea for peace. translation: hostility, - extremism and violence are not born of a religious heart. they are betrayals of religion. we believers ca

there's a steely news line from berlin pope francis arrives for the 1st papal visit to iraq the pontiff is it urging dwindling numbers of iraqi christians to stay put and help rebuild after years of war and persecution also coming up. china shit its focus from the find against the coronavirus to a longer term economic goals beijing also moves to tighten its grip on hong kong. and the golden bear goes through the dark comedy carries off the top prize at the burly not less the german capital's international film festival. welcome to the show pope francis has arrived and back to us to kick off a historic 4 day tour of war torn iraq it's the 1st time a pope has visited the country the 84 year old touched down in the capital and the last few hours prime minister mustafa me led a welcoming committee before the papal convoy made its way into the presidential palace france's then attended a ceremony to mark the beginning of what he has described as a pilgrimage of peace he also is also due to visit mosul a former stronghold of the so-called islamic state. father against petzold is a catholic. m

pope francis, on his second day of his visit to iraq, will visit najaf. leader of millions of shia muslims. the talks have taken years to arrange and they mark a high point of the pope's is it to iraq. but will be carried out very shortly. please stay with us your bbc news. hello. last weekend was a mainly dry weekend across the uk with high pressure in control, and this weekend will be the same. but there is a significant difference between weekends — that word there, cold. a very different feel to things. spring in the air last weekend — 15 celsius in the sunshine. this weekend, with only a few sunny spells around, well, it's closer to 7 degrees. and it feels like winter's still got a bit of life left in it. but it is high pressure across us, so it is going to be mainly dry. just this one weak weather front will deliver a bit of rain into parts of scotland, especially the further north you are. there is milder air out in the atlantic. it will come our way in the week ahead — but that's not the only change coming, as i'll show you in a moment. this is ho

but what the bible teaches now says pope francis is that we must act tirelessly and peacemakers and that means that we should specially strive for reconciliation between the religion here's a short report. the pope has a message for the arab league. slim world as well religion peace if others who want war. travel to egypt in 2017. in cairo he met with grand ahmed al tired who is considered an important figure in sunni islam pope francis wanted to engage muslims as part of his initiative to promote worldwide brotherhood and peaceful coexistence 2 years later francis became the 1st pope to set foot on the arabian peninsula once again he met with grand humam and abu dhabi for their shared message faith lets us see in others the brothers or sisters we must love and support both however received sharp criticism from religious hardliners for this convergence which is also sealed in writing. other stops on his travels in the service of world peace include morocco and now you doc despite the challenges the pope wants to carry his message of religious brotherhood to the country all 3 major monoth

pope francis meets one of the most senior clerics in shiite islam on the 1st papal visit to the pontiff is calling for an end to religious extremism . and we take a closer look at an international program helping countries in africa to vaccinate some of their most vulnerable against covert 19. and a warm welcome to our viewers around the world i'm michel oku the u.n. special envoy has called for a robust international response after this week's violence against protesters she made the remarks during a closed door meeting of the u.n. security council in new york but the council's unlikely to pass a resolution on miramar because of china and russia's veto wielding seats more than 50 people have been killed over the past 7 days as protesters keep up their calls for a return to democracy. oh. the march for democracy purse of years in me and maher despite brutal crackdowns by the military authorities. demonstrations are regularly dispersed by tear gas the violence has escalated in the last week with police making mass arrests and adopting more lethal force. with radio free asia published thi

but what the bible teaches us says pope francis is that we must act tirelessly on space makers and that means that we should especially strive for reconciliation between the religion here's a short report. the pope has a message for the arab. muslim world as well religions want peace it's others who want war. travel to egypt in 2017. in cairo he met with grand ahmed al tired who is considered an important figure in sunni islam pope francis wanted to engage muslims as part of his initiative to promote worldwide brotherhood and peaceful coexistence 2 years later francis became the 1st pope to set foot on the arabian peninsula once again he met with grand humam and abu dhabi for their shared message faith lets us see in others the brothers were sisters we must love and support both however received sharp criticism from religious hardliners for this convergence which is also sealed in writing. other stops on his travels in the service of world peace include morocco and now you doc despite the challenges the pope wants to carry his message of religious brotherhood to the country where all 3

well this is pope francis 1st trip abroad a since the pandemic gripped the world earlier we spoke to do religious affairs correspondent martin gag let's take a listen to his take on the pope's visit to iraq. well the situation of christians in the region in iraq in particular in the region in general that's more or less fallen through the way sides as sort of most of the news cycles and the tension was turn of the you know journey place on the covered and current crisis and sort of china came to occupy a brahman into space over the last year or so one of the reasons why the pope travels very often it's to you know talk big back into falk use or bring you back to the tension off you know public opinion and i think that this is no the friend in the particular case of iraq christian population as he have heard has really gone through a severe severe contraction i mean most a lot of people have left and there are about 250000 left in the country given the situation which is really quite precarious this is this trend is expected to continue i mean this is something that for these for and i

but what the bible teaches now says pope francis is that we must act tirelessly as peacemakers and that means that we should especially strive for reconciliation between the religion here's a short report. the pope has a message for the arab. muslim world as well religions want peace it's others who want war. to travel to egypt in 2017. in cairo he met with the grand ahmed el tired who is considered an important figure in sunni islam pope francis wanted to engage muslims as part of his initiative to promote worldwide brotherhood and peaceful coexistence 2 years later francis became the 1st pope to set foot on the arabian peninsula once again he met with grandma and. their shared message faith others the brothers were sisters we must love and support both however received sharp criticism from religious hardliners for this convergence which is also sealed in writing. other stops on his travels in the service of world peace include morocco and now iraq despite the challenges the pope wants to carry his message of religious brotherhood to the country 3 major monotheistic religions have thei

but what the bible teaches now says pope francis is that we must act tirelessly on space macon's and that means that we should especially strive for reconciliation between the religion here's a short report. the pope has a message for the arab. world as well religions want peace it's others who want war . travel to egypt in 2017. in cairo he met with grand ahmed. who is considered an important figure in sunni islam pope francis wanted to engage muslims as part of his initiative to promote worldwide brotherhood and peaceful coexistence 2 years later francis became the 1st pope to set foot on the arabian peninsula once again he met with grandma and. their shared message faith others the brothers were sisters must love and support both however received sharp criticism from religious hardliners for this convergence which is also sealed in writing. other stops on his travels in the service of world peace include morocco and now iraq despite the challenges the pope wants to carry his message of religious brotherhood to the country where all 3 major monotheistic religions have their roots is

this is al jazeera and these are the headlines pope francis is in northern iraq for the 3rd day of his historic visit the pontiff is holding a prayer service in warsaw for victims of war smaller 14 has more on the significance of the pope's appearance in mosul his presence in the old city is also in a way a message of support for not just north of the bridge but also in the way and in the arab way of highlighting the lack of reconstruction and rehabilitation that has the place of the city despite the war with eyesore having been over for more than 3 years there are still a lot of buildings that are destroyed not infrastructure for people to return to this is one reason why very few in parts of the few dozen members of mortals christian community have returned to. police are using tear gas to disperse sensical protesters in myanmar who turns out in their families in this despite the escalation crackdown that follows a night of raids for security forces stormed houses rounded up people including politicians and journalists 20 chang has more from bangkok in neighboring thailand in one of

after meeting shia islam's most influential ayatollah pope francis heads to iraq's kurdish region to hold prayers for victims of war. and with code inspections on the rise chile and brazil are returning to unpopular strict lock downs. me and ma security forces of storm the homes of protesters over night firing shots as they were rounded up after this. raids have taken place in several main cities part of a strict crackdown by the military human rights groups say it's a tactic designed to terrify people into submission but protesters are remaining defiant and continue to gather daily to call for an end to the military coup despite facing tear gas stun grenades and live rounds what tony chang joins us live now from bangkok in neighboring thailand tony so this isn't the 1st time the gent have used nighttime raids since the coup tell us what's been happening. absolutely not and this is something that's been going on for some time but it's certainly been stepped up in the intensity in the last couple of days we heard a lot of reports in yangon a mandalay that this was happening last night

pope francis has held mass in iraq's capital baghdad on the 2nd day of the 1st ever papal visit to the nation the leader of the roman catholic church called for common ground and unity after meeting with christian and muslim the deuce earlier on saturday he was in the city of najaf where he met iraq's top shia cleric. the u.s. senate has just passed president joe biden's 7 a $1.00 trillion dollar coronavirus a bill the bill now goes back to the house of representatives before it go to biden's desk to be signed off democrats and republicans are basically divided over the bill. yemen's army says its forces have killed another 23 who the fight is on saturday in monrovia where it says it killed almost 100 rebels on friday the army however hasn't reported casualties among its own side's military aircraft from the south it is coalition have been targeting who he finds is the rebels began a defensive last month to seize the city and nearby oil rich areas. security forces have used tear gas and violence to break up another day of anti coup protests across meanwhile more than 50 people have bee

and it is the 3rd day of pope francis's historic visit to iraq you'll hold press for i saw victims in the northern kurdish region before going on to mosul the pope is heading from the capital baghdad to. well tyler coronavirus restrictions you do a surge in case this is causing chaos in parts of latin america and paragraph the president has asked for the entire cabinet to resign after clashes between police and protesters argentinians government has been condemned by rights groups of a violence and in brazil there are tighter restrictions again all the details now with. clashes broke out on friday in a border city in northern argentina following the imposition of. down restrictions police officers used tear gas and rubber bullets against a crowd injuring dozens. of argentina. and had already been hit hard by an economic recession before. many protesters were informal vendors demanding to be allowed to work. human rights groups have denounced what they say was indiscriminate use of force by the police but. the protestors were responsible for the violence. nothing justifies the actions

well as you can see pope francis has now arrived at the our lady of salvation catholic cathedral that's where at least 55 people were killed back in 2010 after having been taken hostage by al qaeda in iraq the pope has been with bishops priests and religious figures he has greeted them as he entered he is expected to speak shortly we will be bringing you that live here on al-jazeera our correspondents mona fulton is following the pope's visit in baghdad at the moment and joins us now on the phone simona this is clearly a very very symbolic site can you tell us a little more about the significance of his choice of this venue as part of his itinerary today. so the our lady of salvation church in augusta but as karada district was the venue of one of the deadliest terror attacks against iraq's christian community back in 2010 when a number of gunmen laid siege to the church and took over 100 worshippers hostage india and as you mentioned over 50 people were killed in that attack and that attack is one was one of many in the wake of the u.s. led 2003 invasion as groups like al qaeda targete

speaking out for dialogue — pope francis meets one of the most historic trip to iraq.has been arrested in dundee in connection with the disappearance of a woman and two children. 0fficers entered a property in troon avenue in the city yesterday afternoon as part of an enquiry into a missing 25—year—old woman. a warning for the un security council that anti—coup demonstrators in myanmar are beginning to lose

joins us now also from baghdad mr khan thank you for your time i will carry us how significant is pope francis's visit for you personally today. well this is really some historic moment to all iraqis that almost 2000 year later the pope of the to come visit us here in such a difficult situation and iraq is suffering from very different issues and they make and economical and. everything and even the sick complex in the region that's an american iran and many many other issues so we are very happy and welcoming his holiness that we hope that. is for sure he is bringing the message of peace and love and forgiveness jesus' message and and his visit will has many many positive effect on iraqi society and in the region and globally as well because. as as you know they. reflect and effect of the eyes is al qaeda crimes against humanity against people here reflect very negatively on the islamic image in europe and america and everywhere so his visit to our religious leaders in iraq gives very very good positive for the plague and bring down a bit some of what we are in europe and america and western. s

pope francis meets iraq's top shia muslim cleric on the 2nd day of his historic visit. hello there i am home or he and this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up. was. the u.n. is urged to act swiftly against myanmar as military crackdown in a protest or is aren't backing down. the u.s. accuses china of an attack ultimate chrissie or her beijing's plans to overhaul hong kong's electoral system. and communities in rural south africa's say they're being left behind and it's with 19 vaccination trying. pope francis is expected in the ancient iraqi city of well he'll address an interfaith meeting in the last hour he met with iraq's top shia muslim cleric on the 2nd day of his historic visit to the country the meeting with grand ayatollah sistani was held in the city of najaf the heads of the roman catholic church as the 1st pope to travel to iraq wife now to a summer binge of 80 joins us from. a summer just talk us through the significance of this me. well this was history in the making the 1st time the leader of the roman catholic church has met the highest religious

after allegations of sexual harassments and his staff doctored reports on nursing home deaths pope francis arriving in iraq, our richard engel is there on his historic trip. >> life after lockdown, a surge in vacation plans. what to do before you book >> announcer:this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening, more loosening covid restrictions, a trickle of states lift in-door gathering rules now threatening to be a tie in a nation thirsty for normalcy is it safe hospitalizations have decreased to just over 44,000. the glass half full for people like ohio's governor who's declaring the end in sight while the head of the cdc looking at half an empty glass warning we have been here before and it does not end well. new numbers point to jobs recovery let's start our reporting with miguel almaguer. >> reporter: bars and clubs removing restrictions in south carolina and event planner in las vegas prepares for summer festivals that can host 20,000 gyms and retail centers. in california theme parks can be opened next month at reduced capacity the governor in ohio says when his state

pope francis is scheduled to hold prayers here. damage isis left behind. he worries decades of trauma left a deep still raw wound. >> iraq is in a dark tunnel he says, there are challenges caused by war and the terrorism still present in some areas and economic problems and corruption widespread in iraq. the visit of pope francis he hopes will spark a change of hearts and minds. maybe there will be love and peace, maybe it will soften and melt frozen hearts. the sun shines once more. people busy themselves preparing for the pope, hoping darkness will not descend upon them yet again. >> reporter: of course the question is after this visit ends tomorrow by pope francis, are things really going to change for iraq? that's hard to say. this is a country set by many problems and political instability and corruption and there are still frequent attacks by isis, none the less, these few days iraqis are able to watch some happy story, a story that does giver some hope to the future. when cnn pays attention to it, oftentimes the news is bad.

our correspondent mark lowen is travelling with pope francis.er of peace. face—to—face with the brutality of islamic state terror in mosul, pope francis came to appealfor unity to rise from its ashes. beside a church destroyed in the fighting, a powerful moment of reflection. rarely has the hand of healing been needed more than this. he called for persecuted christians to return here and gave a prayer for the victims. translation: today, . we reaffirm our conviction that fraternity is more durable than fratricide. that hope is more powerful than death. that peace, more powerful than war. then another risk in the trips finale — a large public mass in irbil in the midst of the pandemic. it's what some had warned against — spreading the virus, notjust the word of god. but the papal fans were undeterred. i hope that this visit will bring a lot of peace to this country and to all religions and nationalities — to live together in peaceful life. the short—term impact of these crowds could well be a spike in infection, but from the warmth of his recepti

our correspondent mark lowen is travelling with pope francis.r, a messenger of peace. face—to—face with the brutality of islamic state terror in mosul, pope francis came to appeal for unity to rise from its ashes. beside a church destroyed in the fighting, a powerful moment of reflection. rarely has the hand of healing been needed more than this. he called for persecuted christians to return here and gave a prayerfor the victims. translation: today, . we reaffirm our conviction that fraternity is more durable than fratricide. that hope is more powerful than death. that peace, more powerful than war. then another risk in the trips finale — a large public mass in irbil in the midst of the pandemic. it's what some had warned against — spreading the virus, notjust the word of god. but the papal fans were undeterred. i hope that this visit will bring a lot of peace to this country and to all religions and nationalities — to live together in peaceful life. the short—term impact of these crowds could well be a spike in infection, but from the warmth of

well i'm sorry richardson welcome to the show pope francis has arrived in iraq with a plan to protect religious diversity iraq's christian community has been a growing smaller every year it's now estimated at just half a 1000000 iraqi christians. francis is making the trip despite security risks he dismissed concerns over the krona virus and sectarian violence saying the trip was his duty to iraq's remaining christians. the pilgrim of peace as pope francis called himself is aware of the risks he is taking amid an ongoing pandemic and a regional conflict. this is an emblematic trip and it is my duty to him margaret land. this woman. but he is not traveling alone he's protected by one of the largest security deployments in recent iraqi history $10000.00 personnel by some estimates including special forces 24 hour drone surveillance and undercover intelligence officers it's the 1st visit by a pope to iraq and comes just 2 days after a rocket attack that seemed to put the trip in doubt. his 1st remarks in baghdad acknowledged the difficult days most iraqis have had to endure without a mil

grand ayatollah ali al—sistani face—to—face with pope francis.enerations to get here. the two religious leaders spoke of friendship to overcome oppression — rare unity after iraq's sectarian conflict. that theme of dialogue then spread further to the remains of ur, biblical birthplace of abraham. and in the shadow of its ancient citadel, pope francis met followers of other faiths. gestures of respect to those often sidelined and victims of iraq's wars now brought together in a plea for peace. translation: hostility, - extremism and violence are not born of a religious heart. they are betrayals of religion. we believers cannot be silent when terrorism abuses religion. from these windswept plains, the pope is using the symbolism of the ancient prophet, evoking the figure of abraham, revered by christians, muslims and jews, to try to spur reconciliation between religions today. and then it was on to mass, pope francis hoping to persuade a dwindling christian community to remain. iraq's patchwork of people came together today. but, as this country kn

well it's indeed a historical visit to the pope francis to iraq. all the iraqi people have welcomed this visit to. astonishing. we did not expect that kind of form will come of all in archy's of different faiths to bob francis and spite of whatever happened in iraq and of course the message of the pope to iraqis to the war through this visit to faith should not be used as a weapon against others faith should be used as a way to spread love to straight peace to spread coexistence among people living in neighborhoods so it's historical visit ali this is also a real opportunity for iraq as a country to try to demonstrate its relative stability as i recall when he landed on friday in one of his very fast public speeches he also spoke about corruption and the need for justice and government is today part of that push for accountability as the country tries to rebuild. well it's a controversial. point of view with respect to the way iraq is going now with respect to the ongoing corruption which has led to minimum services. provided to the iraqi people yo

final preparations to receive pope francis are underway in northern iraq in fact here's the live pictures from the airport in bill the pope due to land this hour expected to deliver a mass for thousands of people in the semi autonomous kurdish region later in the day it is of course the 1st papal trip to iraq and also be heading to mosul a city once home to a vibrant christian community some wonderful team has this report stone by stone christian heritage is being restored but will it be enough to make this a descriptions come back this complex for churches was partly destroyed during the war with i saw 4 years ago now unesco workers are collecting the fragments which will be used to rebuild what's left of this the syrian capital the church the nave of the church. to a line of. longs. it's the goal is to restore it to its original design. a message to people to. rebuild it again so they can be there with their prayers. as well i salute the used church as the court and the adjacent armenian church as a prison the graffiti on this wall reads and transfer a bit and on the orders of the islam

vatican and iraqi flags going up for pope francis's visit. people here are working hard to fix everything up before he arrived. paving the roads fixing street lights and setting up crowd control barriers expectations are high. we hope for this to be a successful visit and that it will help this injured country. when his holiness the pope visits any place there are a lot of positive outcomes from his visit. the cat of course church sits on the nineveh plain in iraq home to some of the earliest christian settlements centuries before islam established itself across the middle east. over time iraq became home to one of the world's most diverse christian communities featuring catholic how they in armenian orthodox protestant as well as other branches of christianity. then politicize. we are sending a message to the pope and to the world that we are here to do that now we need the christians that are remaining on our land that our roots are here so it is impossible to leave the homeland that embraced us let's see if that means they must go to joe h

pope francis has met the spiritual leader of iraq's shia muslims, in the city of najaf on the second to the country. he's the first pope to hold talks with grand ayatollah ali al—sistani, a highly influential figure in the middle east. pope francis has now arrived in the ancient city of ur where the prophet abraham — central to islam, christianity and judaism — is believed to have been born. our correspondent mark lowen reports. if the first day of pope francis�* visit to iraq was about the politics and about meeting the country's dwindling christian community, today was about the outreach towards other faiths, most notably a meeting this morning with the country's top shia cleric, grand ayatollah ali al—sistani, bringing together the leader of the world's catholics with perhaps the most powerful and influential figure in shia islam. it's thought that they discussed interfaith dialogue and the violence that iraqi christians have long suffered. then the pope came on here to ur, the ancient birthplace of the prophet abraham, in which he met again with members of other religions and he s