Two of the world’s most influential religious leaders overcame a religious divide on Saturday to promote peace and unity in a historic gathering.
Pope Francis, 84, the head of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, 90, the spiritual leader of most Shiite Muslims in the world, talked for almost an hour during the first visit papal visit to Iraq, the pontiff’s first trip abroad since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sistani, dressed in black, “stated his concern that Christian citizens would live like all Iraqis in peace and security, and with all their constitutional rights,” according to a statement.
Francisco, dressed in white, thanked Sistani for “raising his voice in defense of the weakest and most persecuted” during some of the most violent moments in recent Iraqi history, the Vatican said.
None of the men wore a mask during the intimate encounter at Sistani’s modest rented house in the holy city of Najaf, despite the recent rise in Covid infections in Iraq. Francis was vaccinated against the virus, but Sistani was not.
The pope took off his shoes before entering Sistani’s room. The Muslim cleric, who usually sits to receive visitors, stood up to greet Francis at his bedroom door – a rare honor.
The meeting, on the second day of the three-day trip, is a landmark moment in modern religious history and a milestone in Francis’ efforts to deepen the dialogue with other religions.
Francis, a strong supporter of interfaith dialogue, met with leading Sunni clerics in several Muslim-majority countries, including Bangladesh, Morocco, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Two years ago, he and Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the imam of the al-Azhar mosque in Cairo and an important authority for Sunni Muslims, signed a text encouraging Christian-Muslim dialogue.
After meeting Sistani, Francis traveled to the ancient city of Ur, where Abraham, the biblical patriarch revered by Christians, Muslims and Jews, is believed to have been born.
Francisco met representatives of various religious communities in Iraq, including Yazidis, whose ancestral heart of Sinjar was devastated by the Islamic State in 2014, mandeans, kakais, Bahá’ís and Zoroastrians.
Shia and Sunni sheiks, as well as Christian clergy, also attended.
The Christian population of Iraq has decreased from about 1.4 million before the US-led invasion in 2003 to about 250,000 today. Christians were targets of Isis between 2014 and 2017 and say they still suffer discrimination and persecution.
In his speech in Ur, Francisco said that freedom of conscience and religion are “fundamental rights” that must be respected everywhere. “We believers cannot remain silent when terrorism abuses religion.”
He also made a strong call for “unity” after the conflict. “Hostility, extremism and violence are not born out of a religious heart: they are betrayals of religion.”
Later, Francis would preside at a mass at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Baghdad.
On Sunday, he will visit Christian communities in Mosul, Erbil and Qaraqosh, in the north of the country.
Father Thabet, a Chaldean Catholic priest from Karamles, near Qaraqosh, said the pope’s visit would encourage the community to stay in the country and “continue the Christian mission here”.
There were 880 Christian families in Karamles before Isis took control of the area. Houses were destroyed and looted and the parish church was badly damaged, although it is now about 60% restored. Only 345 Christian families have returned to the village in the past three years.
“We hope that the Holy Father’s visit will encourage the government to protect Christians,” said Thabet. He planned to attend a mass led by the pope on Sunday, “but the numbers are limited and the movement is difficult because of Covid and the security situation.”