Pope reveals plans to assassinate him in Iraq in 2021

As Pope Francis celebrated his 88th birthday on December 17, publications in Italy and Germany published excerpts from his forthcoming autobiography, in which the Pontiff reflects on the role of religious faith, and discloses that British intelligence warned of two plots to assassinate him during his 2021 trip to Iraq.

The would-be assassins were discovered and killed by Iraqi police, the papal autobiography reveals. 

The Pontiff describes the incidents as “a poisoned fruit of war.”

The papal autobiography, entitled Hope, co-authored by journalist Carlo Musso, will be published on January 14. 

Excerpts appeared on December 17 in the Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera and the German magazine Stern.