Shafaq News / Kurdistan's Ankawa city in Erbil governorate is racing against the clock to finish the preparations for the Pope's first visit.

During his visit to Iraq, Pope Francis will direct to Ankawa, the largest Christian city and community in Iraq and the Middle East,

"Preparations are completed, we are putting the finishing touches,… We are ready for this great event on the seventh of this March "Ano Jawhar Abdulmaseeh Abdoka the Kurdish Minister of Transport and Communications told Shafaq News agency.

"The Pope will hold a mass in the presence of about five thousand people at the Franco Hariri Stadium in Erbil," he added.

Ankawa is a city of Erbil in Kurdistan Region of Iraq; it is inhabited by about 65,000 citizens, in which 90% of them are Christians.

In December 2020, The Vatican announces that Pope Francis will make an Apostolic Journey to Iraq on 5-8 March 2021, visiting Baghdad, the plain of Ur, Mosul, and Qaraqosh.

This will be the first-ever visit by a pope to Iraq.