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    VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Although no official announcement has been made, informed Vatican sources confirm that Pope John Paul II will visit Iraq in December.

    Vatican officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say that the Pope has "for practical purposes, decided" to make the trip to Iraq. In fact, they say, plans for the visit are already well advanced.

    The Pontiff will reportedly travel to Iraq on December 2, for a two- day visit that will fulfill the Pope's desire to make a pilgrimage there, following in the footsteps of the patriarch Abraham. He would arrive in Baghdad, and travel by helicopter to the south of the country, and the ancient home of Abraham: Ur of the Chaldeans.

    A secondary goal of the trip, officials add, is to offer "moral comfort" to the people of Iraq, who are suffering because of an international embargo and the effects of repeated air strikes.

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