Upon disembarking from his plane, the Pontiff was received by Kurdistan’s President, Nechirvan Barzani, and Prime Minister, Masrour Barzani, and religious leaders from the different faiths in Kurdistan Region.

Pope Francis took off towards the city of Mosul after meeting with other top officials, including Masoud Barzani, the former president of the Region and current leader of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

Francis will visit the Karkush region in Mosul, where a large Christian population resides and will make a speech there.

Afterwards, he will return to Erbil, where at 4:00 PM he will celebrate Holy Mass at the Franso Hariri stadium. (ILKHA)