The 45-minute papal meeting in the holy city of Najaf with 90-year-old al-Sistani – who rarely appears in public – was one of the most important summits between a pope and a prominent Shia Muslim figure in recent years.
During the meeting, broadcast on al-Iraqiya’s state TV, al-Sistani thanked Francis for attempting to travel to Najaf and told him that Christians in Iraq should live “like all Iraqis in security and peace, and with their full constitutional status. rights. ”according to a statement from the Grand Ayatollah’s office.
The Pope, in turn, thanked al-Sistani and the Shia Muslim community for “[raising] his voice in defense of the weakest and most persecuted, affirming the sanctity of human life and the importance of the unity of the Iraqi people, ” said a statement from the Holly Sea.
The Pope also stressed the importance of cooperation and friendship between religious communities.
After Najaf, the Pope traveled to Nasiriya, where he held an interfaith meeting on the plain of Ur, which is believed to be the birthplace of Abraham.
In Ur, the Pope spoke of the violence that has ravaged Iraq in recent years. “All of its ethnic and religious communities have suffered. In particular I would like to mention the Yazidi community, which mourned the deaths of many men and witnessed thousands of abducted women, girls and children, sold into slavery, subjected to physical violence and forced conversions, ”he said.
In the speech, Francis also praised the recovery efforts in Northern Iraq, where ISIS terrorists destroyed historic sites, churches, monasteries and other places of worship. “I think of the young Muslim volunteers of Mosul who helped restore churches and monasteries, build brotherly friendships on the rubble of hatred, and the Christians and Muslims who today restore mosques and churches together,” he said.
The Pope landed in Baghdad on Friday, where he was met by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Francis later met clergy and other officials at a Baghdad church where a bloody massacre took place in 2010.
Iraq has imposed a total curfew for the entire four-day papal visit to minimize health and security risks. Francis is leaving Iraq on Monday.
Francis has met with prominent Sunni cleric Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb on several occasions in the past, famously co-signed a 2019 document promising “human brotherhood” between world religions.
Tamara Qiblawi, Delia Gallagher and Aqeel Najm from CNN contributed to this article.