First papal visit for Charles since divorce - Christians get throats slashed in Iraq

First papal visit for Charles since divorce

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Prince Charles of Britain is meeting the pope Monday for the first time since his 1996 divorce from Princess Diana, representatives for both sides said.

Charles&Camilla in front of Italian parliament

The heir to the United Kingdom throne will be accompanied by his second wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

Prince Charles's accession to the throne is likely to be an unspoken subtext of the meeting, an expert on the prince told CNN.

"The biggest thing on Prince Charles's agenda is the preparation for his coronation," said Christopher Wilson, author of "The Windsor Knot: Charles, Camilla and the Legacy of Diana."

Charles would like the pope to attend personally, unlikely as that may be, given the religious divide between London and Rome, Wilson said.

"He will expect a high-profile Roman Catholic presence in Westminster Abbey," where he will be crowned, Wilson argued. "The combined heads of state come from everywhere. Every democratically elected head of state will be invited. It bigs up your coronation if you can get the highest Roman Catholic to come."

The meeting between prince and pope comes days after the 500th anniversary of the crowning of Henry VIII, the English king who broke with the Roman Catholic Church and established the Church of England because he wanted to divorce.

It will be Prince Charles's first visit to the Vatican since he went to the funeral of Pope John Paul II four years ago, and his first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, according to his office, Clarence House.

Attacks on Christians in Iraq leave 3 dead

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Due to persecution, Christians in Iraq have had to rely on Iraqi security forces, as shown here on Easter Sunday.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Two attacks on Christian families in the city of Kirkuk on Sunday evening left three people dead and two others wounded, police said.

The first occurred in a neighborhood in southern Kirkuk when a Christian woman and her daughter-in-law were murdered in their home late night Sunday. Police told CNN the attackers slit the women's throats.

In a neighborhood close by, gunmen attacked a Christian family in their home, shooting a father and his three sons, police said. One of the sons died instantly and the other son and the father were wounded.

Many of Iraq's estimated 1 million Christians have fled the country after targeted attacks by extremists.

In October, more than a thousand Iraqi families fled the northern city of Mosul after they were reportedly frightened by a series of killings and threats by Muslim extremists, who apparently ordered them to convert to Islam or face possible death.