“I came as a pilgrim for the peace and a repentant asking for forgiveness,” Pope Francis told Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi after arriving in Baghdad on March 5 on the first-ever papal trip to Iraq.

Francis described his trip as “long-awaited and desired visit” to Iraq, the “cradle of civilization closely linked through the Patriarch Abraham and a number of the prophets to the history of salvation and to the great religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.”

Hundreds of Iraqis began lining up in the early morning to welcome the pope along the Airport Highway, where they held Iraqi and Vatican flags when his vehicle went by in the afternoon. The pontiff's vehicle slowed, and its window was rolled down so Francis could wave to the throng the entire length of the road.

In the presence of Iraq's president, prime minister, the head of the judiciary system, the parliament speaker and other Iraqi political and social leaders, Francis called upon “governmental leaders and diplomats … to foster this spirit of fraternal solidarity. It is necessary, but not sufficient, to combat the scourge of corruption, misuse of power and disregard for law.”