Pope Francis meets with the Authorities, Civil Society and the Diplomatic Corps in the hall of the Presidential Palace in Baghdad on March 5th, 2021.

Vatican Media/CNA
Pope Francis meets with the Authorities, Civil Society and the Diplomatic Corps in the hall of the Presidential Palace in Baghdad on March 5th, 2021.

Maenza has traveled to the region multiple times in the last two years, including a visit to Sinjar, home to the Yazidi religious minority, as well as Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, where many Christians fled from ISIS in 2014.