Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is scheduled to travel to the Iraqi Kurdish region of Erbil on Friday to follow up the situation of Christians who have been displaced as a result of the Islamic State group's onslaught.
Al-Joumhouria daily said that al-Rahi will be accompanied during the one-day visit by the Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Angelo Scola, who arrived in Beirut on Wednesday, and several members of the Lebanese Council of Maronite Bishops.
The newspaper quoted Bkirki sources as saying that when al-Rahi informed the Vatican about his plan to visit Erbil, church officials sent Scola as an envoy to accompany the Maronite patriarch.
Their trip is aimed at stressing to the Christians in the region the Vatican's interest in solving the problems they are facing, said the sources.
Al-Rahi and Scola are scheduled to meet with top officials in Erbil and the heads of Christian churches, they added.
The patriarch last visited Erbil in August 2014.