Two attempted attacks on Pope Francis, including one by a suicide bomber, were foiled during his landmark trip to Iraq in 2021, the pontiff has revealed in an autobiography.

Pope Francis has revealed he was the target of an attempted suicide bombing during his visit to Iraq three years ago, the first by a Catholic pontiff to the country and probably the riskiest foreign trip of his 11-year papacy.

In newly released excerpts from his upcoming autobiography, Francis describes how British intelligence informed Iraqi police about the planned attacks by suicide bombers.

Pope Francis turned 88 on Tuesday and marked the occasion with revelations that he almost didn’t make it. According to excerpts of his upcoming autobiography, suicide bombers had planned to attack him during his 2021 visit to Iraq,

According to the book, British intelligence informed Iraqi police as soon as Francis arrived in Baghdad that a woman wearing explosives was heading towards Mosul and was planning to blow herself up during the papal visit. “And that a truck was heading there fast with the same intention,” Francis says in the book.

Pope Francis revealed that during his visit to Iraq in March 2021, two assassination attempts on his life were thwarted. The fate of the would-be assassins is unknown. This topic is discussed in the autobiography set to be released in January.