The meeting of Pope Francis and the spiritual leader of the Shiites of Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, speaks about the dialogue of religions and their rapprochement. This was stated on Monday at a press conference by the official representative of the Iranian Foreign Ministry Said Khatibzade.
“The meeting with the spiritual authority of Iraq showed a dialogue between religions and their rapprochement,” he said. The diplomat added that “the Pope’s trip to Iraq was very important.”
According to him, “thanks to the courage of the people, the wisdom of the authorities and the blood shed in the fight against extremism and foreign conspiracies, today [Iraq] has reached such a level of security that it has become possible to conduct such constructive visits.”
Francis became the first head of the Roman Catholic Church to visit Iraq. On March 6, he met with the spiritual leader of the Shiites in Iraq and held talks with him. The parties discussed harassment and discrimination in the modern world and the importance of the dialogue of religions for their elimination.