Pope Francis, the Bishop of Rome, has just returned from a whirlwind three-day journey to Iraq. His trip included seven flights on two carriers.
Seven Flights For Pope Francis Iraq Trip
Francis became the first pope to ever travel to Iraq, a country of 39 million people but in which only 1% identifies as Christian (of all sects). Of that 1%, there are estimated to be only about 240K Roman Catholics.
As the head of state for the Holy See, more commonly known as the Vatican, Francis filled his trip not only with masses and other gatherings of Iraqi Roman Catholics, but meetings with prominent officials, including Iraq’s leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
While actual practice varies, tradition calls for the pope to fly to the foreign nation on Italian flag carrier Alitalia and then back on the flag carrier of the host nation.
For this trip, however, Iraqi Airways is banned from European airspace so Francis used an Alitalia Airbus A330-200 for the round-trip journey. Within Iraq, however, he did use Iraqi Airways for five domestic flights. It is not clear what aircraft were used, but Iraqi Airways currently operates a mix of Airbus A320s and Boeing 737-800s within Iraq.
His flight itinerary, stretching over four days, included two Alitalia flights and five Iraqi Airways flights:
- March 5
- Rome (FCO) – Baghdad (BGW) – Alitalia
- March 6
- Baghdad (BGW) – Najaf (NJF) – Iraqi Airways
- Najaf (NJF) – Nasiriyah (XNH) – Iraqi Airways
- Nasiriyah (XNH) – Baghdad (BGW) – Iraqi Airways
- March 7
- Baghdad (BGW) – Erbil (EBL) – Iraqi Airways
- Erbil (EBL) – Baghdad (BGW) – Iraqi Airways
- March 8
- Baghdad (BGW) – Rome (CIA) – Alitalia
Here are some pictures from Vatican state media of his journey:
(apologies for the low quality images – these are what the Vatican provided)
CONCLUSION
As with most papal trips, Francis departed Rome Fiumicino (FCO) and returned to Ciampino (CIA). Does anyone know why this is?
I wonder if Pope Francis takes his chef along when he travels or if he eats the airline catering? These were all chartered flights, so I’d suspect he brought his own food. In any case, seven flights in essentially three days is an impressive feat for an 84-year-old man, especially with a full schedule between them.
That last photo is a 737.
The math doesn’t add up. Iraq is a country of 40 million people and 1% are Christian. 1% of 40,000,000 is 40,000. Then you state 240k of which are Roman Catholics….
How are you getting these numbers and math?
It appears that the Pope wears normal business trousers under his Pope outfit. As a kid I always wondered…
@Stephen W, you may want to check your math on 1% of 40M – it’s 400,000.
Glad to see the Pope’s trip go so well, and it was a brave trip on his part even with all the security cover provided. Iraq used to have a lot more Christians — and a lot more Catholics and Uniate church followers too — than it has had since the foolish invasion of Iraq in 2003 has unleashed so much damage in the country and the region.
Ali al-Sistani is more than Iraq’s leading Shia cleric. He’s the long-standing primary Shia theological leader in the world, including being ranked higher than all of the Shia clerics in Iran.
Even long before he was Pope, this Jesuit had a very good reputation with the Jewish and Muslim community religious leaders in Buenos Aires and that is why I was so thrilled to see him replace almost Austrian Ratzinger, a person who had much the same bigoted thinking as his almost compatriot Jorg Haider.
Bergoglio has never been as deep-rooted in the traditional European prejudices toward religious minorities, so he has the kind of spirit of which this world needs more.
1% is 400,000. Still, 60% are Roman Catholics
Very cool – I like things like this. Is the Alitalia flight scheduled or charter?
Charter.
RE flying into Ciampino: The only thing I can think of is that the train tracks that are next to the airport have a direct path to the Vatican’s train station. That may be the fastest/safest way to move him back to the Vatican. As for why he doesnt also fly out of there? I have no idea.
Pope Francis has nothing to worry about. He is literally the devil incarnate given his abandonment of traditional biblical commandments that came directly from Jesus’ mouth. Everything he has done and said has eradicated god and Jesus of the biblical from the church. The devil is protecting him.
Ciampino is very close to Castel Gandolfo, but that’s unlikely a factor as Francis declines to use it ( although it was much -favoured by Benedict).