Pope Francis meets with top Shiite cleric during historic visit to Iraq

Pope Francis met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of the leading clerics of Shiite Islam, in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq, on Saturday to convey a joint message of peaceful coexistence, urging Muslims to embrace Iraq’s long-besieged Christian minority.

The closed-door meeting was to address issues plaguing Iraq’s Christian minority. Al-Sistani is a deeply revered figure in Iraq, mostly Shiite, and Shiites around the world seek his views on religious and other issues.

For Iraq’s dwindling Christian minority, a show of solidarity from al-Sistani could help secure their place in Iraq after years of displacement and, they hope, ease intimidation by Shiite militiamen against their community.

The historic meeting in al-Sistani’s humble home took months to prepare, with every detail thoroughly discussed and negotiated between the Ayatollah’s office and the Vatican.

READ MORE:
* The Pope calls for an end to violence in the historic first papal visit to Iraq
* The Pope urges Iraq to embrace its Christians in the first papal visit
* Rockets hit the Iraqi air base that houses US troops.

When the time came, the 84-year-old pontiff’s convoy, driven by a bulletproof vehicle, pulled up along the narrow, column-lined Rasool Street, culminating in the golden-domed Imam Ali shrine, one of the most revered. sites in the world for Shiites. Then he walked a few meters to al-Sistani’s modest home, which the cleric has rented for decades.

A group of Iraqis dressed in traditional clothing greeted him outside. When a masked Francisco walked through the door, some white doves were released as a sign of peace. He emerged just under an hour later, still limping heavily from an apparent flare of sciatic nerve pain that made walking difficult.

The “very positive” meeting lasted a total of 40 minutes, said a religious official in Najaf, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to report to the media.

The official said al-Sistani, who normally sits for visitors, stood up to greet Francis at the door of his room, a rare honor. Al-Sistani and Francis sat together, without masks, with their hands in their laps. Between them was a small table with a box of tissues.

The official said there was some concern that the pope had met with so many people the day before. Francis has received the coronavirus vaccine, but al-Sistani has not.

The visit was broadcast live on Iraqi television and residents cheered the meeting of two respected religious leaders.

“We welcome the Pope’s visit to Iraq and especially to the holy city of Najaf and his meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani,” said Haidar Al-Ilyawi, a resident of Najaf. “It is a historic visit and I hope it is a good one for Iraq and the Iraqi people.”

Francis arrived in Iraq on Friday (local time) and met with senior government officials on the first papal visit to the country, with the aim of promoting his call for greater brotherhood among all peoples. It is also his first international trip since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and his meeting on Saturday marked the first time a pope has met a great ayatollah.

About 25,000 security forces were deployed in Najaf before the Pope’s arrival, according to the province’s governor. Rasool Street emptied itself of its usual bustle to clear the way for the arrival of the Pope. As soon as his caravan left, a swarm of people ran into the street, filling it up again to see him off.

On the few occasions when he has made his views known, the notoriously reclusive al-Sistani has changed the course of modern Iraqi history.

In the years following the 2003 US-led invasion, he repeatedly preached calm and restraint when the majority Shiites were attacked by al Qaeda and other Sunni extremists. However, the country was engulfed in years of sectarian violence.

His 2014 fatwa, or religious edict, calling on healthy men to join the security forces in the fight against the Islamic State group increased the ranks of Shiite militias, many of them closely linked to Iran. In 2019, when anti-government demonstrations took over the country, his sermon led to the resignation of then-Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.

Iraqis have welcomed the visit and the international attention it has given the country as it struggles to recover from decades of war and unrest. Iraq declared victory over the Islamic State group in 2017, but still sees sporadic attacks.

It has also witnessed recent rocket attacks by Iranian-backed militias against US military and diplomatic facilities, followed by US airstrikes on militia targets in Iraq and neighboring Syria. The violence is related to the confrontation between the United States and Iran following Washington’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal and its imposition of crippling sanctions on Iran.

Francisco’s visit to Najaf and nearby Ur crosses provinces that have experienced recent instability. In Nasiriyah, where the Plains of Ur are located, protest violence killed at least five people last month. Most were killed when Iraqi security forces used live ammunition to disperse crowds.

Protest violence was also seen in Najaf last year, but it subsided as the massive anti-government movement that engulfed Iraq gradually subsided.

A strong security presence also awaited Francis in Ur, where the pope would preside over an interfaith meeting on Saturday afternoon. Ur, with its ancient ziggurat, is the traditional birthplace of Abraham, a prophet common to Christians, Muslims and Jews.