RT
Today, Saturday, Iraq is witnessing an unprecedented meeting between Pope Francis and the supreme Shiite reference, Ali al-Sistani, in the city of Najaf, in one of the most important stops of the pontiff’s historical visit to Iraq.
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After the Pope met the leaders of the Catholic sects on Friday in Baghdad, he extends a hand today to Shiite Muslims by visiting the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who is 90 years old and who never appears in public, at his modest home in the city of Najaf, 200 km To the south of Baghdad.
The two men will hold a closed meeting for an hour, which comes two years after Pope Francis signed the Human Fraternity Document with the Imam of Al-Azhar, one of the most prominent institutions of Sunni Muslims based in Egypt.
Sunnis make up ninety percent of the world’s Muslims, while Shiites make up ten percent, and most of them are concentrated in Iraq and Iran.
The media will not be allowed to attend the meeting, which begins at 8:00 am (06:00 GMT), but nevertheless it is a source of pride for many Shiites in a country that has been experiencing crises and conflicts for 40 years, including a bloody civil war between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
In some Najaf streets, paintings were erected with pictures of Pope Francis and Ayatollah Sistani, with the phrase in English “The Historical Meeting”
Source: AFP
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