In his forthcoming autobiography titled “Hope,” set to be published on January 14, 2025, Pope Francis disclosed that his historic visit to Iraq in March 2021 was marked by two assassination attempts, thwarted by British intelligence services. This is the first public revelation of these security incidents.
The Pope’s memoir details that upon his arrival in Baghdad, Vatican security officials notified him of two serious threats to his visit to Mosul, detected by British intelligence. These threats—a woman equipped with explosives and a fast-moving van—were both intercepted by Iraqi police before they could reach their intended targets.
“When I asked the (Vatican) Gendarmerie the following day what was known about the two bombers, the commander replied, ‘They are no longer there,'” wrote the Pope in an excerpt published by the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera. “The Iraqi police had intercepted and detonated them. That, too, was very striking to me. This, too, was the poisoned fruit of war.”
Pope Francis, 88, was adamant about making the trip to Iraq, the first by a Pope, despite numerous advisors urging against it due to ongoing sectarian tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pope was resolute in showing solidarity with the persecuted Christian community in Iraq.
Throughout the three-day visit, the Vatican Gendarmerie and Pontifical Swiss Guard collaborated with local law enforcement to ensure the Pope’s safety in a country still harboring clandestine jihadist cells. “Almost everyone advised against that trip,” the Pope noted in his memoir, expressing his determination to face the situation head-on.
While in Iraq, the Pope held several high-level meetings, including a noteworthy meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a leading authority in Shia Islam, in Najaf. This encounter marked the culmination of decades of Vatican preparations that none of Francis’s predecessors managed to achieve.
Pope Francis’s autobiography, “Hope” in English and “Spera” in Italian, provides the first detailed account of these security threats. The memoir, initially intended for posthumous release, will now be published to align with the beginning of the Jubilee celebration, a significant year of festivities for Catholics worldwide.
The Pope’s visit to Mosul was especially significant as the city had experienced severe damage under Islamic State control. From above, the Pope saw the city as “an X-ray of hatred,” underscoring the devastating effects of sectarian violence in the region.
The successful thwarting of these assassination attempts had wide-ranging implications. Had the attacks been successful, it would have necessitated the election of a new pope, potentially undermining the credibility of the Iraqi government, and possibly escalating religious tensions globally. This disclosure comes many years after a previous assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in Vatican City in May 1981.
Since taking the helm of the Catholic Church in 2013, Pope Francis has embarked on over 40 foreign trips, continually prioritizing interfaith dialogue and reconciliation in regions affected by conflict.
