A plot to assassinate Pope Francis during his historic trip to Iraq in 2021 was foiled thanks to a tip-off from British intelligence, according to excerpts from his upcoming autobiography.
In the book, the Pope reveals that, upon arriving in Baghdad in March 2021, he was informed that an event he was scheduled to attend was being targeted by two suicide bombers. Both attackers were intercepted and killed by security forces, he writes in passages published by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
The visit, which took place during the coronavirus pandemic, was the first ever papal visit to Iraq and involved an extensive security operation due to the ongoing sectarian violence and terrorism in the region. Iraq had seen years of escalating conflict, with Shia and Sunni Muslim factions clashing, along with ongoing persecution of religious minorities. The country’s Christian community had been severely impacted, especially by the Islamic State (ISIS) and other Sunni extremist groups.
Despite widespread advice against the trip, the Pope felt compelled to go. “Almost everyone advised me against [the visit], but I felt I had to do it,” he writes.
The plot was uncovered by British intelligence, who alerted Iraqi authorities, who then informed the Pope’s security team upon his arrival. “A woman packed with explosives, a young suicide bomber, was heading towards Mosul to blow herself up during the papal visit,” the Pope writes. “And a van had also set off at great speed with the same intention.”
The following day, the Pope asked a security official about the fate of the would-be attackers. “The [official] replied laconically: ‘They are no more’. The Iraqi police had intercepted them and blown them up,” he recounts in his autobiography.
The book, titled Hope, is scheduled for release on January 14. The Vatican has not yet commented on the revelations, according to Reuters.
