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November 26, 1999/17 Kislev 5760, Vol. 52, No.13
Talks under way for papal trip to Iraq
RUTH E. GRUBER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
ROME - With Pope John Paul II's long-planned visit to the Holy Land confirmed for next March, a Vatican delegation is in Baghdad to finalize details of a papal visit to Iraq.
The five-person delegation, headed by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, arrived in Baghdad on Saturday night after a 12-hour, 600-mile journey by road from Amman, Jordan. Their arrival is the clearest sign to date that the ailing, 79-year-old pope may visit Iraq as part of a series of pilgrimages next year marking the Christian millennium.
The pope has said that he wants to visit Ur, revered as the birthplace of Abraham, as part of his pilgrimage.
The Vatican never officially said that the pope would visit Iraq, but speculation has been rife for months. Israel, the United States, Britain, Jewish groups and others are opposed to a visit, saying it could be manipulated by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Though the pope wants his pilgrimage to be a purely religious visit, for protocol reasons it would probably include a meeting with Hussein.
Vatican sources said last week that a final decision was still up in the air.
The Vatican announced officially Nov. 17 that the pope would travel to the Holy Land in the last 10 days of March. No schedule details were announced immediately, but the trip will probably take place in Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem, according to Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, secretary-general of the Vatican committee planning events for the year 2000.
The visit would be the first papal trip to the Holy Land since Pope Paul VI visited Jerusalem in 1964, and would fulfill a dream held for years by John Paul.
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