04:30With her frail veiny hands, elderly Qaraqosh local Karjiya Baqtar has worked on a prayer shawl to gift to Pope Francis when the pontiff visits the city on the third day of his historic visit to Iraq on Sunday, March 7.
The stole vestment, which was locally-produced, was designed by Ammar Yaqo, the priest at the Al-Tahera Church in Qaraqosh and was embroidered with golden threads by the elderly Christian woman.
"Father Ivan asked me if I would be able to prepare it for the Pope, I said, of course, I would, and we started working and preparing this piece," said Baqtar holding on to the embroidered shawl on Saturday.
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).
Iraq: Elderly Qaraqosh woman embroiders prayer shawl to gift to Pope Francis
With her frail veiny hands, elderly Qaraqosh local Karjiya Baqtar has worked on a prayer shawl to gift to Pope Francis when the pontiff visits the city on the third day of his historic visit to Iraq on Sunday, March 7.
The stole vestment, which was locally-produced, was designed by Ammar Yaqo, the priest at the Al-Tahera Church in Qaraqosh and was embroidered with golden threads by the elderly Christian woman.
"Father Ivan asked me if I would be able to prepare it for the Pope, I said, of course, I would, and we started working and preparing this piece," said Baqtar holding on to the embroidered shawl on Saturday.
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).
With her frail veiny hands, elderly Qaraqosh local Karjiya Baqtar has worked on a prayer shawl to gift to Pope Francis when the pontiff visits the city on the third day of his historic visit to Iraq on Sunday, March 7.
The stole vestment, which was locally-produced, was designed by Ammar Yaqo, the priest at the Al-Tahera Church in Qaraqosh and was embroidered with golden threads by the elderly Christian woman.
"Father Ivan asked me if I would be able to prepare it for the Pope, I said, of course, I would, and we started working and preparing this piece," said Baqtar holding on to the embroidered shawl on Saturday.
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).