Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and Pope Francis, each the highest religious authority among their followers, met on Mar. 6 during the Pope’s tour of Iraq. The visit was highly symbolic and aimed to signal to Shiite Muslim leaders that Christians should be respected.

Pope Francis’ three-day visit to northern Iraq from Mar. 5 to Mar. 7 is the first-ever papal trip to Iraq. On the second day, he toured the ruins of Ur, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of religious figure Abraham, and met Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a notable spiritual authority for many Shiite Muslims.

“As a Shia Muslim, I do not consider Pope Francis to be just an authority for Catholic Christians but for all humanity. And the same is true for Grand Ayatollah Sistani,” said Iraqi Shiite religious leader Sayyed Jawad Mohammed Taqi Al-Khoi of the private meeting between the two prominent figures.

Both religions “share theological similarities when it comes to the use of intellect and reasoning, but moreover, Ayatollah Sistani and Pope Francis also share similar personalities as individuals when it comes to their piety and humility,” he added.

Christians in Iraq face extreme violence and discrimination, and the Iraq population is weighed down by turmoil, economic difficulties, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Iraq’s Christians anticipated Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’s meeting with Pope Francis, hoping that the show of solidarity from Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani will ease discrimination from Shiite militiamen against their community and help solidify their place in the region.

The meeting, located in the holy city of Najaf, was private and not recorded. During their talk, Ayatollah al-Sistani stressed that Christian citizens deserve to live in “security and peace,” with full constitutional rights, just like Iraqis. He discussed oppression, injustice, and religious and intellectual persecution, and expressed concern about the situation of displaced people in northern Iraq, “particularly the Palestinian people in the occupied territories,” according to a statement released by his office.

In return, Pope Francis thanked Ayatollah al-Sistani and the Shiite community for speaking up in defense of the most vulnerable.

“Let us affirm that God is merciful and that the greatest blasphemy is to profane his name by hating our brothers and sisters. Hostility, extremism, and violence are not born of a religious heart: They are betrayals of religion,” the pope said in Ur after the meeting, surrounded by Christians, Muslims, and members of many Iraq minorities. “We believers cannot be silent when terrorism abuses religion.”

Iraqis showed a positive response to the rendezvous, and the prime minister declared Mar. 6 the “National Day of Tolerance and Coexistence” in Iraq.

Photo courtesy of NCRONLINE.ORG