THE PRESS TREATMENT OF THE VISIT OF "POPE FRANCIS" AND ITS REPERCUSSIONS ON COMMUNITY PEACE IN IRAQ... A SURVEY STUDY...
Authors: Kokiz AL-SARRAJ Shukria 
Published: January 2023

The importance of the research from a practical point of view lies in the fact that it presents a set of statistics and data that give a clear picture of how the Iraqi newspapers (the subject of the study) deal with the visit of "Pope Francis" to Iraq ، and what are the most prominent indicators and manifestations of that visit in promoting societal peace among the Iraqi public. From a scientific point of view، the research provides another scientific addition to the media library، especially with regard to journalistic treatments and methods of framing the Arab international press for the subject of the visit، which could be a starting point for other researchers to complete qualitative research in this field. The research problem is how the Iraqi newspapers (the subject of the study) deal with Pope Francis' visit to Iraq، identifying the questions it raised to the reader، and the extent of the media material's contribution to the newspaper and its analyzes، to reveal and highlight the issues of interest. A main question for the research problem can be formulated as follows: How did the Iraqi press handle Pope Francis' visit to Iraq? Branching from this main question are sub-questions that can be identified as follows: 1- What are the most important journalistic arts that dealt with the visit of "Pope Francis" to Iraq? 2- What kind of information sources did the Iraqi press use in dealing with Pope Francis' visit to Iraq? 3- What is the location of publishing the topics of Pope Francis' visit to Iraq in the two newspapers Al-Ainah? 4- What are the most prominent internal and external actors that the Iraqi press dealt with while addressing the visit of "Pope Francis" to Iraq? 5- What are the directions of content presentation of the press treatment of Pope Francis' visit to Iraq? 6- What are the most prominent types of journalistic treatments used in Pope Francis' visit to Iraq? 7- What is the impact of Pope Francis' visit on societal peace in Iraq? 8- Did the visit have positive or negative repercussions on societal peace in Iraq? 9- Was the media of its various types effective in handling and covering the visit? 10- Which active forces were the most influential during the visit? 11- What are the most influential dimensions of this visit in the societal peace in Iraq? 12- How important is the role of Iraqi women in this visit? Within the framework of the methodology، methods and research tools available to it، the researcher seeks to achieve a number of scientific objectives related to the subject of the research، including the following at the level of the analytical study: 1. Getting to know how the Iraqi press handled the visit of "Pope Francis" to Iraq. 2. Knowing the most important journalistic arts that dealt with the visit of "Pope Francis" to Iraq 3. To identify the type of information sources adopted by the Iraqi press for the visit of "Pope Francis" to Iraq. 4. Knowing the location of publishing the topics of Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq in Al-Ainah newspapers. 5. Determining the most prominent internal and external actors dealt with by the Iraqi press for the visit of "Pope Francis" to Iraq. 6. Statement of the direction of the press treatment of Pope Francis' visit to Iraq. 7. To identify the most prominent types of press treatments that were used in Pope Francis' visit to Iraq. As for the research objectives in the field study، they are as follows: 1- Knowing the impact of Pope Francis' visit on societal peace in Iraq. 2- Find out what the visit has achieved of positive or negative repercussions on societal peace in Iraq? 3- Recognizing the effectiveness of the various types of media in handling and covering the visit. 4- Exposing the most influential actors during the visit. 5- Knowing the most influential dimensions of this visit in the societal peace in Iraq. 6- Understand the importance of the role of Iraqi women in this visit. The research community is represented in the following areas: 1- The temporal domain: The researcher determined the temporal domain of her research by specifying the visit of "Pope Francis" to Iraq، as the time period for analyzing the content of the Iraqi press on the subject of the research was determined، as well as the units or categories of analysis related to media treatment. 2- Spatial domain: the researcher chose to analyze the content of the Iraqi press (Al-Sabah / Al-Zaman). 3- The human sphere: the human sphere is represented by a sample of the Iraqi elite، represented by a sample of Baghdad University professors. Among the most important results of the research are the following: 1. The category of spreading a culture of societal peace has preceded the main (7) categories of journalistic treatment of Pope Francis' visit to Iraq. 2. The art of press news in the two newspapers of the sample got the first rank among (6) journalistic arts used for the treatment under study. 3. The highest frequencies in the press sources used in the press treatment (the press representative) were collected in both newspapers. 4. The positive trend prevailed over the presentation of the topics of Pope Francis' visit to Iraq. 5. The internal pages have progressed from the first and last pages in publishing the topics of the visit. 6. The Iraqi government represented the internal and external actors in handling the two newspapers for the visit. 7. The explanatory treatment ranked first in the two newspapers of the sample in its journalistic treatment of the visit. 8. Pope Francis' visit had a great impact on societal peace in Iraq. 9. The visit achieved its positive repercussions by (89%) on the Iraqi society. 10. The sample confirmed that the timing of the visit was very appropriate for the stage in Iraq. 11. The sample confirmed that the Iraqi media of all kinds and trends were active during the visit. 12. The name of the pilgrimage to Ur was presented above the rest of the names given to Pope Francis' visit to Iraq. 13. The respondents indicated that the religious authority in Najaf Al-Ashraf was one of the effective forces for the success of the visit. 14. The sample confirmed that women have priority and an active role in Pope Francis' conversations during the visit. Keywords: Journalism.. Treatment.. Societal Peace