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Amid the rubble and bombed out remains of four churches destroyed by Islamic State militants, Pope Francis paid tribute to Iraqi Christians who endured persecution and even death.

Pope Francis told Iraqi Christians that when they suffer discrimination, persecution or war, the Eight Beatitudes are addressed to them.

Traveling to the birthplace of Abraham, Pope Francis urged believers to prove their faith in the one God and father of all by accepting one another as brothers and sisters.

In a low-key meeting followed closely in Iraq and beyond, Pope Francis and Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the influential leader of Shiite Muslims in Iraq, spent 45 minutes speaking privately.

Pope Francis visited the cathedral where 48 Christian martyrs died in 2010 when militants detonated explosives and shot people; 48 Catholics -- including two priests -- died inside and more than 100 people were wounded.

To consolidate peace and ensure progress, the government and people of Iraq must never treat anyone as a second-class citizen and must work each day to promote harmony, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis told the people of Iraq he was going to their country as a "penitential pilgrim," asking God's forgiveness for years of war, persecution and destruction, and as a "pilgrim of peace," hoping to remind people that they are all brothers and sisters no matter their ethnic or religious identity.

A week before Pope Francis was scheduled to arrive in Iraq, the Vatican nuncio in Baghdad and several members of the staff tested positive for COVID-19 and began self-isolating.

Although it took obvious effort to pronounce each word and sometimes his secretary repeated what he said to make it clear, retired Pope Benedict XVI spoke to an Italian newspaper about his retirement and about Pope Francis' planned trip to Iraq.

The 1,200 Chaldean Catholic families who live in Arizona are thousands of miles from the land of their birth. And on March 5, their hearts will turn toward their native Iraq.