Info Magzine: Pope Francis to meet top cleric Sistani on second day in Iraq

Security personnel encompass Pope Francis as he leaves Baghdad’s Syriac Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation (Sayidat al-Najat) initially of the primary ever papal go to to Iraq on March 5, 2021. – In an handle to the devoted in Baghdad, the pontiff expressed his gratitude to his fellow clergy for supporting Iraq’s Christians, whose inhabitants has dwindled due to battle. (Photo by Ayman HENNA / AFP)

NAJAF, Iraq – Pope Francis begins the second day of his historic Iraq go to on Saturday with a unprecedented assembly with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the top authority for the nation’s Shiite Muslims.

The 84-year-old pontiff is defying a second wave of coronavirus instances and renewed safety fears to make a “long-awaited” journey to Iraq, aiming to consolation the nation’s historic Christian neighborhood, whereas additionally deepening his dialogue with different religions.

Having spoken to the devoted in Baghdad on Friday, Francis will journey to the Iraqi shrine metropolis of Najaf early on Saturday to see 90-year-old Sistani.

The two will meet at 9 a.m. (0600 GMT) in Sistani’s humble residence in considered one of Najaf’s tiny alleyways, with no press allowed, because the Grand Ayatollah is sort of by no means seen in public.

The go to is among the highlights of Francis’ four-day journey to war-scarred Iraq, the place Sistani has performed a key function in tamping down tensions in latest many years.

It took months of cautious negotiations between Najaf and the Vatican to safe the one-on-one assembly.

“We feel proud of what this visit represents and we thank those who made it possible,” stated Mohamed Ali Bahr al-Ulum, a senior cleric in Najaf.

On his arrival, the Pope might be greeted by posters that includes a well-known saying by Ali, the fourth caliph and the Prophet Mohammed’s relative, who’s buried in Najaf.

“People are of two kinds, either your brothers in faith or your equals in humanity,” learn the banners.

‘High moral authority’

Pope Francis, a powerful proponent of interfaith efforts, has met top Sunni clerics in a number of Muslim-majority nations, together with Bangladesh, Turkey, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.

Sistani, in the meantime, is adopted by a lot of the world’s 200 million Shiites — a minority amongst Muslims however the majority in Iraq — and is a nationwide determine for Iraqis.

“Ali Sistani is a religious leader with a high moral authority,” stated Cardinal Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, the top of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and a specialist in Islamic research.

Massir Hayat, a Catholic nun in cost of youth organisation on the Immaculate Mary Dominican Sisters Convent, performs with youths throughout a celebration in a public sq. in the predominantly Christian city of Qaraqosh (Baghdeda), in Nineveh province, some 30 kilometres from Iraq’s northern Mosul on March 5, 2021, forward of the pope’s go to to the city. (Photo by Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP)

Sistani started his non secular research on the age of 5, ascending via the ranks of Shiite clergy to grand ayatollah in the Nineties.

While Saddam Hussein was in energy, he languished beneath home arrest for years, however emerged after the US-led invasion that toppled the repressive regime to play an unprecedented public function.

In 2019, he stood with Iraqi protesters demanding higher public companies and shunning exterior interference in Iraq’s home affairs.

On Friday in Baghdad, Pope Francis made an identical plea.

“May partisan interests cease, those outside interests who don’t take into account the local population,” Francis stated.

Sistani has had an advanced relationship along with his birthplace Iran, the place the opposite essential seat of Shiite non secular authority lies: Qom.

While Najaf affirms the separation of faith and politics, Qom believes the top cleric — Iran’s supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — also needs to govern.

‘Great prestige’

Iraqi clerics and Christian leaders stated the go to may strengthen Najaf’s standing in contrast to Qom.

“The Najaf school has great prestige and is more secular than the more religious Qom school,” Ayuso stated.

“Najaf places more weight on social affairs,” he added.

In Abu Dhabi in 2019, the Pope met Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the imam of the Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo and a key authority for Sunni Muslims.

They signed a textual content encouraging Christian-Muslim dialogue, which Catholic clerics hoped Sistani would additionally endorse, however clerical sources in Najaf informed AFP it’s unlikely.

While the Pope has been vaccinated and inspired others to get the jab, Sistani’s workplace has not introduced his vaccination.

Pope Francis is helped by a bodyguard throughout his go to to the Syriac Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation (Sayidat al-Najat) in the capital Baghdad initially of the primary ever papal go to to Iraq on March 5, 2021. – In an handle to the devoted in Baghdad, Pope Francis expressed his gratitude to his fellow clergy for supporting Iraq’s Christians, whose inhabitants has dwindled due to battle. (Photo by Ahmad AL-RUBAYE / AFP)

Iraq is at the moment gripped by a resurgence of coronavirus instances, recording greater than 5,000 infections and greater than two dozen deaths every day.

Following his go to to the Grand Ayatollah, the Pope will head to the desert web site of the traditional metropolis of Ur — believed to be the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham — the place he’ll host an interfaith service, with a lot of Iraq’s different non secular minorities in attendance.