Pope Francis is defying a second wave of coronavirus cases and renewed security fears to make a “long-awaited” trip to Iraq, aiming to comfort the country’s ancient Christian community and deepen his dialogue with other religions.
In a landmark moment in modern religious history, Pope Francis met top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in Iraq on Saturday. The two leaders met at the latter's home in the shrine city of Najaf. The meeting came on the second day of first-ever papal visit to Iraq.
When Pope Francis landed at the Najaf airport, posters had been set up featuring a famous saying by Ali, the fourth caliph and the Prophet Mohammed's relative, who is buried in the holy city.
"People are of two kinds, either your brothers in faith or your equals in humanity," read the banners.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, one of Shiite Islam's top clerics, told Pope Francis in a historic meeting in Iraq on Saturday that the country's Christians should live in "peace". The meeting, on the second day of the first-ever papal visit to Iraq, marked a landmark moment in modern religious history and in terms of Francis's efforts to deepen interfaith dialogue. Pope Francis later addressed the rich spectrum of Iraq's religious communities at.
Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani told Pope Francis in a landmark interfaith meeting in the holy city of Najaf Saturday that the country's Christians should live in "peace". Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani "affirmed his concern that Christian citizens should live like all Iraqis in peace and security, and with their full constitutional rights", a statement from his office said. For its part, the Vatican said Francis thanked Sistani and the Shiite people for having “raised his voice in defence of the weakest and most persecuted” during some of the most violent times in Iraq’s recent history.The Pope said Sistani’s message of peace affirmed “the sacredness of human life and the importance of the unity of the Iraqi people”. The two elderly, respected men of religion met at Sistani's home in the shrine city of Najaf early on Saturday, the second day of the first-ever papal visit to Iraq. The 84-year
Middle-East Arab News and Opinion - Asharq Al-Awsat is the world’s premier pan-Arab daily newspaper, printed simultaneously each day on four continents in 14 cities