Pope Francis has disclosed that he avoided a double suicide bombing while in Iraq three years ago after British intelligence and Iraqi police stopped attempts on his life.
On Tuesday, the pontiff’s 88th birthday, Corriere della Sera was given extracts from Francis’ future autobiography, Spera (Hope), which contains the disclosure.
Francis later questioned Vatican security what had happened to the suicide bombers, according to the book, which was written by Carlo Musso, an Italian author and is scheduled for publication in January.
According to the Pope, he was informed that two suicide bombers were targeting an event he was scheduled to attend after arriving in Baghdad in March 2021.
He claimed in quotes from the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that both perpetrators were later apprehended and slain. The three-day visit, which was accompanied by a heavy security operation, was the first time a pope had ever visited Iraq during the coronavirus outbreak.
Iraq had seen a rise in sectarian violence in the previous years, including persecution of religious minorities and clashes between Shia and Sunni Muslims.
The Islamic State organization and other Sunni militants had specifically targeted the country’s Christian community, causing them to shrink substantially. According to extracts from his memoirs, the Pope stated that “Almost everyone advised me against” the visit, but he felt he “had to do it”.
He claims British intelligence discovered the plot and alerted Iraqi police, who then informed his security detail once he arrived.
“A woman packed with explosives, a young suicide bomber, was heading towards Mosul to blow herself up during the papal visit,” he says.
“And a van had also set off at great speed with the same intention.”
The Pope continues by saying that the next day he inquired about the whereabouts of the potential attackers from a security official.
“The [official] replied laconically: ‘They are no more’. The Iraqi police had intercepted them and blown them up,” he wrote.
The publication date of the book, Hope, is set for January 14.
