Pope Francis has shared details about a foiled assassination plot targeting him during his 2021 visit to Iraq. The pontiff revealed the incident in excerpts from his upcoming autobiography, *Hope*, published by the Italian newspaper *Corriere della Sera* on Tuesday, his 88th birthday.
The book, set to be released in January 2025, recounts how the Pope decided to proceed with his March 2021 trip to Iraq despite security warnings.
According to Pope Francis, British intelligence uncovered a plot involving two suicide bombers who intended to target events during his visit.
“A woman packed with explosives, a young suicide bomber, was heading toward Mosul to blow herself up during the papal visit,” he said. “A van, also speeding toward the same target, had the same intention.”
The Pope credited British intelligence for promptly alerting Iraqi authorities, who intercepted and neutralized the threat. When he later asked about the bombers’ fate, an Iraqi official confirmed they had been killed.
“The official replied laconically: ‘They are no more.’ The Iraqi police had intercepted them and blown them up,” Pope Francis recounted.
