The 45-minute papal meeting in the holy city of Najaf with al-Sistani, 90, which rarely appears in public, represented one of the most significant summits between a pope and a major Shiite Muslim figure in recent years.
During the meeting, broadcast on state television al-Iraqiya, al-Sistani thanked Francis for his efforts to travel to Najaf and told him that Christians in Iraq should live “like all Iraqis in Iraq. security and peace and with their full constitutional rights, “according to a statement issued by the office of the Grand Ayatollah.
In turn, the Pope thanked Al-Sistani and the Shiite Muslim community. “[raising] his voice in defense of the weakest and most persecuted, affirming the sacredness of human life and the importance of the unity of the Iraqi people, “according to a statement from the Holly Sea.
The Pope also stressed the importance of collaboration and friendship between religious communities.
After Najaf, the Pope traveled to Nasiriya, where he held an interfaith meeting on the plain of Ur, considered the birthplace of Abraham.
In Ur, the Pope spoke of the violence Iraq has suffered in recent years. “All its ethnic and religious communities have suffered. In particular, I would like to mention the Yazidi community, which has mourned the deaths of many men and witnessed thousands of women, girls and children abducted, sold as slaves, subjected to violence. physics and forced conversions, ”he said.
In the speech, Francis also praised recovery efforts in northern Iraq, where the ISIS terrorist destroyed historic sites, churches, monasteries and other places of worship. “I think of the young Muslim volunteers from Mosul, who helped repair churches and monasteries, building fraternal friendships among the ruins of hatred, and those Christians and Muslims who today are restoring together and mosques,” he said.
The pope touched down in Baghdad on Friday, where he was met by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Francis later met with clergy and other officials at a Baghdad church that was the site of a bloody 2010 massacre.
Iraq has imposed a total curfew during the four-day papal visit to minimize health and safety risks. Francis is scheduled to leave Iraq on Monday.
Francis has met with the great Sunni cleric, the great imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, on several occasions in the past, famously co-signing a 2019 document promising “human brotherhood” among world religions.
CNN’s Tamara Qiblawi, Delia Gallagher and Aqeel Najm contributed to this article.