Who is the longest serving pope in the history of the Catholic Church?
St. Peter, Pius IX, John Paul II, or Leo XIII?
St. Peter the Apostle, who's regarded by Catholics as the first pope, served at least 34 years.
Pope Francis, the current pontiff, is considered the 266th leader of the Catholic Church. But on Friday, he became the first pope ever to visit the Middle Eastern nation of Iraq. Several locations in this ancient part of the world are mentioned in the bible's Old Testament.
Today, Iraq is officially a Muslim country with significance to the world's Jews Christians and Muslims, the three Abrahamic religions.
As part of his trip, Pope Francis visited what's believed to be the birthplace of Abraham,in addition to a number of Christian sites, and he met with Christian leaders Muslim leaders and political leaders. For decades, Iraq has struggled with war instability and terrorism.
Standing in the rubble of Mosul, a city destroyed during the defeat of the ISIS terrorist group, Pope Francis said on Saturday that hope is more powerful than hatred and peace is more powerful than war. The pontiff is scheduled to return home to the Vatican on Monday.
