Archbishop ready to welcome Pope Francis to Iraq’s Nineveh Plains

Today sees us bring forth the final interview of our four-podcast series looking forward to the historic visit of Pope Francis to Iraq – the first of any pope to the country. Our guest is the Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Hadiab-Erbil – Archbishop Nizar Semaan. Archbishop Nizar was ordained Archbishop in his home city of Qaraqosh in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in 2019.The church, the biggest in the Nineveh Plain, was severely damaged by Islamic State fighters six years ago but, now, in 2021, it returns to the wider world’s gaze for the right reasons. Pope Francis will pray the Angelus in the Church of the Immaculate Conception now crowned with a new statue of Mary placed on the reconstructed bell tower, which had been demolished by the terrorists. So much to talk to Archbishop Nizar about.