The pope is heading for Iraq, where Christians remain afraid

THINGS ARE moving quickly in Qaraqosh, a sleepy Christian town just outside Mosul in northern Iraq. Pope Francis arrives on March 7th, four years after Islamic State (IS) was chased out. So local priests have been hurriedly cleaning up al-Tahira, their cathedral and one of Iraq’s largest churches. They have refurbished its burnt interior and repaired most of the masonry that the jihadists used for target practice. When your correspondent visited, five days before the pope, smashed chandeliers and a golden crucifix torn down by IS still littered the forecourt. Father Ammar Yako, the priest overseeing the project, says he has received no support from the Iraqi government; the funding has come from Catholic groups in the West. He says he will finish just in time for the Holy Father.

Pope Francis is the first-ever pontiff to visit Iraq, where over 95% of the population is thought to be Muslim. He arrives at a difficult time for its Christians, whose forebears have been in the country since the first century. Churches are being rebuilt, but there are fewer believers to fill the pews. Around 1.2m Christians lived in Iraq in 2003. War and misery have pushed that number down to around 250,000, or less than 1% of the population (see chart). Many of those who left will never come back. But Iraq’s leaders hope that Christians displaced within the country will soon feel safe enough to go home. President Barham Salih says the pope’s visit will help Iraq to “heal”.