The religious affairs committee at the Iraqi Council of Representatives welcomed Pope Francis\'s planned visit to Iraq, describing it as important in consolidating ties between the Muslim and Christian worlds. In statements to Al-Sabah newspaper on Tuesday, the committee\'s chairman, Ali Hussein said the pope\'s visit to Iraq would help drop claims that Iraq was driving Christians out of the country and that it was not granting them protection or their constitutional rights. The pontiff\'s visit demonstrates that Iraq is treating Christians as part and parcel of the country\'s political process. After the pope\'s inauguration on March 13, Mar Louis Raphael I Sako, the patriarch of the Chaldean Church, extended an invitation to the new pope to visit Iraq.