Pope Francis concluded his three-day trip to Iraq with a stadium Mass in which he said the country “will always remain with me, in my heart.” America's Vatican correspondent, Gerard O’Connell, reports.

On the final day of his historic trip to Iraq, Pope Francis said, “To cleanse our hearts, we need to dirty our hands, to feel accountable and not to simply look on as our brothers and sisters are suffering.”

On the second day of his trip to Iraq, Pope Francis met with a Shia Muslim leader in Najaf and delivered a message of religious unity in the ancient community of Ur. Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell reports.

Pope Francis' prayer at the interreligious meeting at Ur, Iraq on Saturday, March 6.

Pope Francis visited a Baghdad cathedral that is now a shrine to 48 Christian martyrs who died Oct. 31, 2010, when militants belonging to a group linked to al-Qaida laid siege to the church.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, named today to the influential Congregation for Bishops, has been known as a “Pope Francis bishop”—one who generally follows the pope’s lead in prioritizing social justice issues and dialogue over culture war flashpoints.