Pope Francis arrived in the Iraqi city of Najaf, one of the holy cities of Shi'a Islam, on Saturday morning, during the second day of his historic four-day visit to Iraq.
The Papal motorcade can be seen arriving in the city, and the Pope's car park in front of the home of Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Al-Husayni Al-Sistani, regarded as the spiritual leader of Iraq's Shi'a muslims, with whom the pontiff was set to have a meeting.
The Pope's historic visit to Iraq comes as part of an initiative to preserve Iraq's ancient Christian communities and support the return of those Christians driven out by the so-called Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).
Pope Francis arrived in the Iraqi city of Najaf, one of the holy cities of Shi'a Islam, on Saturday morning, during the second day of his historic four-day visit to Iraq.
The Papal motorcade can be seen arriving in the city, and the Pope's car park in front of the home of Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Al-Husayni Al-Sistani, regarded as the spiritual leader of Iraq's Shi'a muslims, with whom the pontiff was set to have a meeting.
The Pope's historic visit to Iraq comes as part of an initiative to preserve Iraq's ancient Christian communities and support the return of those Christians driven out by the so-called Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).
Pope Francis arrived in the Iraqi city of Najaf, one of the holy cities of Shi'a Islam, on Saturday morning, during the second day of his historic four-day visit to Iraq.
The Papal motorcade can be seen arriving in the city, and the Pope's car park in front of the home of Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Al-Husayni Al-Sistani, regarded as the spiritual leader of Iraq's Shi'a muslims, with whom the pontiff was set to have a meeting.
The Pope's historic visit to Iraq comes as part of an initiative to preserve Iraq's ancient Christian communities and support the return of those Christians driven out by the so-called Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).