Pope Francis

Pope Francis spoke out against organized crime on Sunday, warning that "mafias" around the world were engaged in efforts to profit off of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Reuters reported that the remarks came as part of an address for an Italian day of remembrance for victims of organized crime, which has plagued Italy for centuries.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry on March 10 reacted to a stamp planned to be issued by the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) on the occasion of the visit of the spiritual leader of the Catholics, Pope Francis, to Iraq.

Pope Francis has visited parts of northern Iraq that were held by Islamic State (IS) militants on the third day of his historic trip to the country.

Christians were among those targeted by IS when they seized the region in 2014, carrying out human rights abuses.

The Pope prayed among ruined churches in Mosul, the former IS stronghold, before meeting Christians in Qaraqosh.

Pope Francis prayed on March 7 for "victims of war" outside a centuries-old church in Iraq's Mosul, where the ISIL group ravaged one of the world's oldest Christian communities until the jihadists' defeat three years ago.

Pope Francis extended his hand to the world's Shiite Muslims on March 6, meeting top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in a landmark moment in modern religious history.

The two elderly, respected men of religion met at Sistani's humble home in the shrine city of Najaf early on Saturday, the second day of the first-ever papal visit to Iraq.

Pope Francis has called for an end to violence and extremism, on the first ever papal visit to Iraq.

In a speech after being welcomed by Iraqi President Barham Salih, Pope Francis said he was very pleased to come to Iraq, which he described as the "cradle of civilisation".

The pontiff is making his first international trip since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Pope Francis starts a historic trip to war-battered Iraq on March 5, defying security fears and the pandemic to comfort one of the world's oldest and most persecuted Christian communities.

Pope Francis landed in war-battered Iraq on March 5 on a first-ever papal visit, defying security fears and the pandemic to comfort one of the world's oldest and most persecuted Christian communities.

The 84-year-old, who said he was travelling to Iraq as a "pilgrim of peace", will also reach out to Shiite Muslims when he meets Iraq's top cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.

Pope Francis starts a historic trip to war-battered Iraq on March 5, defying security fears and the pandemic to comfort one of the world's oldest and most persecuted Christian communities.

Pope Francis led the world's 1.3 billion Roman Catholics into Lent on Ash Wednesday, as they scaled back a centuries-old ritual to help stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Francis, who normally marks the start of the penitential season with an outdoor procession between two ancient churches in Rome, instead said a Mass for about 120 people in St. Peter's Basilica.