Pope Francis reveals thwarted 2021 Iraq assassination attempts: female bomber and van

Pope Francis revealed that he narrowly escaped two assassination attempts during his historic visit to Iraq in March 2021, as detailed in his upcoming autobiography "Hope," according to excerpts published by Le Figaro.

In his memoirs, which are set to be released in January 2025 in over 80 countries, the pontiff recounts that British intelligence informed the Iraqi police upon his arrival in Baghdad of planned assassination attempts against him. "The police had alerted the Vatican gendarmerie about information received from British intelligence: a woman loaded with explosives, a kamikaze, was heading to Mosul to blow herself up during the papal visit," Pope Francis wrote, according to Le Figaro.

He also mentions a second threat. "A van was also speeding towards the same intention," he adds, as reported by Il Tempo. The Iraqi police intercepted both assailants. "Iraqi police had intercepted them and made them explode. This struck me as well: Even this is the poisonous fruit of war," Pope Francis writes, according to News18.

Reflecting on his decision to proceed with the trip despite the dangers, the Pope states that the trip "was discouraged by everyone."

"I wanted to go to the end, I felt I had to," he added, as reported by Stern. He notes that many in his entourage advised against the visit, but he was determined to carry it out.

During his visit, Pope Francis met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the highest Shia authority, in the holy city of Najaf. "That meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani had been prepared by the Holy See for decades, without any of my predecessors being able to complete it," he writes, according to Última Hora.

The autobiography, originally planned to be published after his death, is now set to be released to coincide with the start of the Jubilee celebration in 2025, a year of festivities for Catholics worldwide, according to News18. According to the Italian publisher Mondadori, "Hope" is the first autobiography ever published by a pope, News18 reports.

Pope Francis recalls his historic trip to Iraq from March 5 to 8, 2021—the first by a pope—which he was determined to undertake despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to Stern. Despite high security risks, he traveled across Iraq, visiting Baghdad, Mosul, and Qaraqosh, areas that had been tormented by jihadists, as reported by La Croix.

"Almost everyone advised me against that trip," the Pope writes. "But I wanted to get to the bottom, I felt I had to do it," according to Clarín. The visit was surrounded by extensive security measures due to COVID-19 and jihadist activity, with about 10,000 Iraqi police deployed and a curfew imposed, reports Stern.

He recalled that Mosul, once the headquarters of Islamic State militants, had been devastated, and the region's Christian communities had largely emptied, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee, according to News18. During his visit, Pope Francis called on the dwindling Christian community in Iraq to forgive the injustices done to them by Muslim extremists and to rebuild, speaking at the ruins of a church in Mosul, News18 reports. Moreover, he urged Iraq's Christians to rebuild.

"I felt the need to visit our grandfather Abraham, the common ancestor of Jews, Christians, and Muslims," he explains, as reported by Stern.

The book, titled "Spera" (Hope), will be published in January in more than 80 countries, according Corriere della Sera.

Pope Francis turned 88 years old on Tuesday.

"The book of my life is the story of a journey of hope, a journey that I cannot separate from the journey of my family, my people, the entire people of God," the publisher quotes Pope Francis, as reported by Münchner Merkur. "On every page, in every passage, it is also the book of those who traveled with me, of those who were before me, of those who will follow," he adds.

This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq