Iraq: Crowd at the service of Pope Francis in the city of Erbil

More than 10,000 worshipers gathered at the Franco Hariri Stadium in Erbil Iraqi Kurdistan to see the Pope up close and watch the service he performed.

THE Pope Francis He entered the packed area with a special bulletproof vehicle, made the rounds of the stadium greeting the gathered crowd and performed the last service during his three-day presence in Iraq.

With the Pope, who performed the service in Italian, 80 volunteers were found who “dressed” the church hymns in Arabic.

At the end of the ceremony, the Pope excitedly stressed that Iraq will be in his heart forever.

The pontifical four-day visit full of symbolism to Iraq sent a message of peace and cooperation with Islam to a country that now numbers less than 300,000 Christians, when in 2003 its Christian population numbered 1.5 million.

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