Pope Francis reveals he was nearly assassinated during dangerous 2021 Iraq trip

Pope Francis barely escaped death during an ill-advised trip to Mosul, Iraq, in 2021, and he has now revealed stunning details about an assassination attempt in his autobiography.

According to Fox News, the pope retold a chilling account of his Iraq trip and how a foiled assassination plot is the only reason he's still alive today to tell it.

The trip to Iraq actually sparked two major threats to the pope's life. One of them included a "would-be suicide bomber strapped with explosives."

The second threat was a "van containing explosives," that reportedly charged toward the same area where the woman was supposed to be, with "the same intent" of killing the pope.

"Almost everyone advised me against that trip," Pope Francis wrote in his autobiography.

#PopeFrancis survived two assassination attempts in #Iraq in 2021, foiled by #British intelligence, highlighting dangers faced by religious figures.https://t.co/LyoAGgjvEc pic.twitter.com/Pg1sRNPHaH

— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) December 17, 2024

Fox News noted:

Mina Al-Oraibi, editor-in-chief of The National newspaper based in Abu Dhabi, wrote at the time that Francis had decided to embark on the 4-day trip to "reinforce the historic and natural place of Christians in Iraq and the Arab world."

The pope and his Vatican security team were made aware of the threats thanks to tip originating from the British intelligence community. Presumably, if it were for that tip, the assassins might have accomplished their horrific mission.

"The police had alerted the Vatican Gendarmerie to a report that had come from British intelligence: a woman stuffed with explosives, a young suicide bomber, was on her way to Mosul to blow herself up during the papal visit. And a van had also left at full speed with the same intent," he wrote.

The pope later asked his security team what became of the potential assassins, only to be told that the threats had been neutralized, according to an Iraqi commander.

The Daily Mail added:

The commander replied laconically, ‘They’re no longer here. Iraqi police had intercepted them and made them explode.'"

Though his autobiography won't hit the shelves until next month, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera published several excerpts from the upcoming book this week.

His trip to Iraq was the first of its kind for a sitting pope.

Iraqi authorities had deployed "thousands" of extra security forces for the pope's visit.