BAGHDAD (AP) – In the holy city of Iraq, a pontiff will meet a venerable Ayatollah and make history with a message of coexistence in a place plagued by bitter divisions.
One is the pastor of the worldwide Catholic Church, the other is a prominent figure in Shia Islam, whose views are influential on Iraqi streets and beyond. Their confrontation will resonate around Iraq, across the border to neighboring, predominantly Shia Iran.
Pope Francis and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani are due to meet for about 40 minutes on Saturday, which is part of the time alone except for the interpreter, in the modest house of a Shia cleric in the city of Najaf. Every detail was checked ahead of time in enterprising, behind-the-scenes preparations that touched on everything from shoes to seating arrangements.
The geopolitical undertones weigh heavily on the seat, with two threats of a viral epidemic and ongoing tensions with rocket-firing Iranian-backed thug groups.
For Iraq’s dwindling Christian minority, al-Sistani’s show of solidarity with Iraq could help secure its place after years of displacement – and they hope it will be easier to intimidate their community with Shia militias.
Iraqi officials in the government also see the symbolic power of the meeting – as in Tehran.
Al-Sistani, 90, has a consistently resilient weight for Iranian influence. With this meeting, Francis is taking his rival Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamani and clearly recognizing him as the main correspondent of Shia Shia Islam. News of the meeting escalated the long-running rivalry between Najaf’s Shia seminars and the Iranian city of Qan Money, over which Shia Shias are at the center of the world.
“It would be a private visit without any precedent in history, and would not be the same as his previous visits,” said a Najaf religious official involved in the scheme.
For the Vatican, it was several decades of construction that excluded Francis’ predecessor.
“Najaf did not make it easy,” said a Christian religious official close to the Vatican party, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the taste.
In December, the head of Iraq’s Chaldean Catholic Church, Louis Saco, told the Associated Press that the church was trying to secure a meeting between Francis and Yat Yatullah. It was included in the first draft of the program, but difficulties arose when the (Vatican) delegation visited Najaf, “he said without elaborating.
The church insists.
“We know the importance and impact of Najaf in the Iraqi situation,” Sacco said. What will be the value of the Pope’s message of possible coexistence in Iraq, if they do not have the support of his most powerful and respected religious figure?
Sak Sak finally confirmed the meeting in January, weeks after Pontiff’s guidelines were assembled.
Rarely does al-Sistani weigh in on governance matters. When he has, he has changed the course of Iraq’s modern history.
An order from him gave many households a reason to run in the January 2005 election, the first since the 2003 US-led invasion. His 201st fatwa, calling on men capable of fighting the Islamic State group to fight, has given a major impetus to the Cold War. In 2019, anti-government protests gripped the country, leading to the resignation of then-Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.
The Vatican hoped that Francis would sign a document with al-Sistani pledging humanitarian comradeship, as he had done with Ahmed al-Tayyib, the influential Sunni Islamist of al-Azhar in Egypt.
The signature was among the many elements in which the two sides negotiated extensively. Finally, Shia religious officials in Najaf told the AP that the signature was not on the agenda, and al-Sistani would make a verbal statement instead.
Every minute of Saturday’s meeting, like a possible script stage play, will unfold cautiously.
The 84-year-old Pontiff’s convoy will proceed along Najaf’s busy column-lined Rasool Street, arriving at Imam Ali Shrine, one of the world’s most popular landmarks for Shiites.
There is a very narrow alley for side trains. Here, Francis will go 30-meters (yards) to the modest home of al-Sistani, which the cleric has rented for decades. Waiting to greet him at the entrance will be Mohammed Ridha, al-Sistani’s influential son.
Inside, and a few steps to the right, this pontiff will come face to face with Ayatollah.
Everyone will do simple gestures of mutual respect.
Francis will remove his shoes before entering Al-Sistani’s room.
Al-Sistani, who is usually seated for visitors, will stand at the door to greet Francis and take her to the L-shaped blue sofa, and call for a seat.
A Najaf religious official said the place had not been taken by his progress with any guest before.
Despite his fragile health, he will be able to stand his ground, religious officials said. After breaking her thigh last year, the cleric is firmly bound inside the house. Francis suffers from sciatica.
The Pope will be given tea.
“His holiness will send a message of holiness to peace and humanity of the world,” the official said.
Gifts will be exchanged.
It is not clear what Najaf will offer, but Francis will almost certainly present al-Sistani with bound copies of his most important writings, including his latest encyclopedia “Brothers All” about the need to bring more brotherhood among all people. A more peaceful, environmentally sustainable and just world.
So far, Pappal’s plans to visit Iraq have failed miserably.
Pope John Paul II was unable to attend in 2000 after talks with the government of then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein broke down.
One tweak after another almost reversed this as well.
A new, more contagious strain that started in the UK last month hit Iraq on the second wave of coronavirus last month, at the same time, rocket attacks resumed targeting the American presence in the country. The United States has blamed Iran-linked forces.
The same groups, strengthened after al-Sistani’s fatwa, are accused of terrorizing Christians and preventing them from returning home. The Iraqi government and religious officials are concerned that the army could launch a rocket attack in Baghdad or elsewhere to show resentment over al-Sistani’s visit to Francis.
As pope, Francis sits above the official hierarchy that rules the Catholic Church. Al-Sistani’s position is more informal in terms of tradition and prestige. He is considered one of the world’s most respected Shia religious scholars, a leading light in Najaf seminars, which has earned him worldwide respect.
Iran’s Khamni and Cam seminars compete for that reputation. Al-Sistani’s branch opposes direct rule by clerics, a stable system in Iran, where Khamenei has the final say in all matters.
“This visit could potentially upset some people and they may try to delay or cancel the visit,” Najaf said. “Who could be upset? Kumna Hawaza,” he said. Refer to seminars using the Arabic word.
Iran’s chief justice, Ibrahim Raisi, a potential presidential candidate or successor to Khamenei, has been unsuccessful in his attempts to meet with al-Sistani on a recent trip.
The official said, “This tension with the Iranians increased because their holiness did not see Raisi, but the holiness.”
Putting politics and rivalry aside, everyone in Iraq’s multi-confessed fabric will have to get something out of the short confrontation.
“I see Pope Najaf’s visit as the culmination of a global movement in the Islamic-Christian tradition to promote security and peace in our country,” Iraqi Culture Minister Hassan Nadehem recently told the press. “We are still linked to tendencies towards violence and intolerance.”
___
Nicole Winfield, an Associated Press writer in Rome, contributed to this report.
.
