Pope Francis is in Baghdad: "Violence is incompatible with faith"
Pope Francis in Iraq, a journey in the name of brotherhood
Pope Francis in Iraq, an unprecedented journey
The Pope's trip to Iraq, video message to the Iraqi people: "I wish to meet you"
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March 06, 2021 Pope Francis arrived shortly before 7 am (9 am local time) in the holy city of Najaf, in southern Iraq, for an unprecedented meeting with the great Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Al-Husayni Al-Sistani.
The meeting, of a private nature, is held in the house of the religious leader. It is one of the main events of Pope Francis' trip to Iraq.
The meeting between the pope and the Ayatollah is strictly private and nothing has been left to chance.
Francesco, who arrived in Najaf with a minimal following, drove to the private residence of Al-Sistani.
As the Associated Press has reconstructed, the great ayatollah, 91, very rarely receives guests, has agreed to extraordinarily open the doors of his home to the 84-year-old bishop of Rome, who was greeted at the door by the son of Al- Sistani.
White doves were flown upon the arrival of Pope Francis in the narrow alley in front of the residence of the Great Ayatollah, reports Kurdish broadcaster Rudaw.
The image of the dove, a symbol of peace, was also used to accompany the photos of the Pontiff and the leader of the Shiites who camp in Iraq.
The Great Ayatollah, for his part, waited for the Pope standing in his reception room as a sign of reverence: the conversation between the two then in the presence of the interpreters alone for about an hour sipping tea, Francis sitting on a blue sofa.