During this first ever journey to Iraq by a Pontifex, Pope Francis visited the cities of Ur, Baghdad, Najaf, Qaraqosh, Erbil and Mosul.

[3] The preparations for the visit were nearing completion early in 2020, when he met the President of Iraq, Barham Salih, at an audience in the Vatican on 25 January of that year.

[2] Pope Francis mentioned he would arrive as a penitent pilgrim and pray for forgiveness after a long period of interreligious conflicts during the civil war in Iraq.

[9] The visit to Ali Al-Sistani in Najaf was prepared with great care to details such as what beverages would be taken or on for how many meters Pope Francis would walk to Al Sistani home.

[8] When he met the Iraqi president Barham Salih at the Presidential Palace in Baghdad[14] who gave him a welcome gift of a replica from a work of Mohammed Ghani Hikmat depicting the Passion of Jesus before his crucifixion.

Francis said that Vatican officials were notified of the plot by British intelligence services and that two bombers, including a young woman, were killed by Iraqi police prior to them attempting the bombings.

[25] He acknowledged the safeguarding role the KRG played for the Christians during the Iraqi Civil War against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

[30] Besides the Cardinal has delivered several propositions concerning the enhancement of education, intercultural tolerance and the protection of the holy sites as described in the Iraqi Penal Code in April 2021.

[32][33] This led to criticism by Turkey who demanded explications for this "grave mistake"[34] and prosecuted the Kurdish MP of the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) Berdan Öztürk for terrorist propaganda for defending the issuing of the commemorative stamp.