At this regular weekly public audience on March 10, Pope Francis said that his visit to Iraq last weekend was marked by a “penitential sense,” particularly in light of the suffering of that country’s people. He spoke of the “martyr-Church” in Iraq, and reported that today Muslims and helping Christians to rebuild churches destroyed by the Islamic State in the area around Mosul. The Pope also said that his visit—the first ever by a Roman Pontiff—fulfilled a dream of St. John Paul II.