Pope Francis meets Iraq’s Shia leader al-Sistani
3 years, 9 months ago

Pope Francis meets Iraq’s Shia leader al-Sistani

Al Jazeera  

The pontiff met Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in holy city of Najaf to urge Muslims to embrace Iraq’s beleaguered Christians. Pope Francis has met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of the most senior leaders in Shia Islam, in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf to deliver a message of peaceful coexistence, urging Muslims to embrace Iraq’s long-beleaguered Christian minority. After the meeting, al-Sistani office released a statement that said religious authorities have a role in protecting Iraq’s Christians and that the Shia leader “affirmed his concern that Christian citizens should live like all Iraqis in peace and security, and with their full constitutional rights”. The Vatican said Francis thanked al-Sistani and the Shia people for having “raised his voice in defence of the weakest and most persecuted” during some of the most violent times in Iraq’s recent history.

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History of this topic

Pope Francis reveals two attempts on his life during 2021 visit to Iraq
Trending News
1 week ago

Pope Francis reveals two attempts on his life during 2021 visit to Iraq

CNN  

CNN — Two attempted attacks on Pope Francis, including one by a suicide bomber, were foiled during his landmark trip to Iraq in 2021, the pontiff has revealed in an autobiography. Francis added that he was told a van “had also left at high speed with the same intention.” Francis, who turns 88 on Tuesday, made the remarks in a …

Top Muslim Cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb Calls for Intra-Muslim Dialogue ahead of Pope’s Visit
2 years, 1 month ago

Top Muslim Cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb Calls for Intra-Muslim Dialogue ahead of Pope’s Visit

News 18  

One of the world’s leading Islamic clerics on Friday called for dialogue between the faith’s two main currents to settle sectarian differences, in an address to religious leaders including Pope Francis. Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Cairo’s prestigious Al-Azhar mosque, a centre of Sunni learning, made the rare appeal at the Bahrain Dialogue Forum aimed at promoting religious …

Pope Francis presses Muslim dialogue in first papal visit to Bahrain
2 years, 1 month ago

Pope Francis presses Muslim dialogue in first papal visit to Bahrain

Firstpost  

Human rights groups and relatives of Shiite activists on death row have urged Francis to use his visit to call for an end to the death penalty and political repression in Bahrain Vatican City: Pope Francis is bringing his message of dialogue with the Muslim world to the kingdom of Bahrain, where the Sunni-led government is hosting an interfaith conference …

Iraqi cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi deepens intra-Shia dispute
2 years, 7 months ago

Iraqi cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi deepens intra-Shia dispute

Al Jazeera  

The controversial figure has become the subject of widespread discussions in Iraq, igniting debates on his ideology and what threats he could pose to security. The trigger in the latest round of what has become an increasingly tense intra-Shia leaders’ dispute was an otherwise uneventful Friday sermon in early April, when Ali Masoudi, a representative of al-Sarkhi, who is a …

Pope Francis visits Iraq’s war-ravaged north on last day of tour
3 years, 9 months ago

Pope Francis visits Iraq’s war-ravaged north on last day of tour

The Hindu  

Pope Francis arrived in northern Iraq on March 7, where he planned to pray in the ruins of churches damaged or destroyed by Islamic State extremists and celebrate an open-air Mass on the last day of the first-ever papal visit to the country. Francis has also delivered a message of interreligious tolerance and fraternity to Muslim leaders, including in an …

Pope Francis, Iraq's Top Shiite Cleric Hold Historic Meet; Deliver Powerful Message of Peaceful Coexistence
3 years, 9 months ago

Pope Francis, Iraq's Top Shiite Cleric Hold Historic Meet; Deliver Powerful Message of Peaceful Coexistence

News 18  

Pope Francis and Iraq’s top Shiite cleric delivered a powerful message of peaceful coexistence Saturday, urging Muslims in the war-weary Arab nation to embrace Iraq’s long-beleaguered Christian minority during an historic meeting in the holy city of Najaf. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said religious authorities have a role in protecting Iraq’s Christians, and that Christians should live in peace and …

Pope Francis Holds Historic, Symbolic Meeting With Iraq's Top Shiite Cleric
3 years, 9 months ago

Pope Francis Holds Historic, Symbolic Meeting With Iraq's Top Shiite Cleric

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING PLAINS OF UR, Iraq — Pope Francis and Iraq’s top Shiite cleric delivered a powerful message of peaceful coexistence Saturday, urging Muslims in the war-weary Arab nation to embrace Iraq’s long-beleaguered Christian minority during an historic meeting in the holy city of Najaf. Pope Francis meets Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani Associated Press The historic meeting in al-Sistani’s …

Pope Francis urges Iraq’s Muslims, Christians to unite for peace
3 years, 9 months ago

Pope Francis urges Iraq’s Muslims, Christians to unite for peace

Al Jazeera  

Pope Francis travelled to the ancient city of Ur in southern Iraq to reinforce his message of interfaith tolerance. Pope Francis has urged Iraq’s Muslim and Christian religious leaders to put aside animosities and work together for peace and unity during an interfaith meeting in the traditional birthplace of the Prophet Abraham, father of their faiths. With a magnificent ziggurat …

Pope Arrives In Iraq To Rally Christians Despite Pandemic
3 years, 9 months ago

Pope Arrives In Iraq To Rally Christians Despite Pandemic

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING BAGHDAD — Pope Francis arrived in Iraq on Friday to urge the country’s dwindling number of Christians to stay put and help rebuild the country after years of war and persecution, brushing aside the coronavirus pandemic and security concerns to make his first-ever papal visit. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said Iraqis were eager to welcome Francis’ …

Pope Francis arrives in Iraq, where beleaguered Christians are struggling to hold on
3 years, 9 months ago

Pope Francis arrives in Iraq, where beleaguered Christians are struggling to hold on

LA Times  

Pope Francis landed in Baghdad on a breezy afternoon Friday to begin an unprecedented visit to the land revered as the birthplace of the patriarch Abraham and the site of the Garden of Eden. He gingerly stepped down from the plane and walked along a red carpet lined with red-jacketed guards to the tune of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.” The …

Pope Francis To Make History By Visiting Influential Muslim Cleric's Home
3 years, 9 months ago

Pope Francis To Make History By Visiting Influential Muslim Cleric's Home

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING BAGHDAD — In Iraq’s holiest city, a pontiff will meet a revered ayatollah and make history with a message of coexistence in a place plagued by bitter divisions. Pope Francis and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani are to meet on Saturday for at most 40 minutes, part of the time alone except for interpreters, in the Shiite cleric’s …

March 3, 2021 coronavirus news
3 years, 9 months ago

March 3, 2021 coronavirus news

CNN  

An Iraqi civil defence worker sprays disinfectant in front of a mural depicting Pope Francis at the Syriac Catholic Church of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad, Iraq, on March 2. Ameer Al Mohammedaw/dpa/picture alliance/Getty Images Ahead of Pope Francis’ historic trip to Iraq Friday, the Vatican says the visit will go ahead despite rising Covid-19 infections there. Let’s pray …

Iraq’s struggling Christians hope for boost from pope visit
3 years, 10 months ago

Iraq’s struggling Christians hope for boost from pope visit

Associated Press  

Nasser Banyameen speaks about his hometown of Qaraqosh in the historical heartland of Iraqi Christianity with nostalgia. Francis’ visit, his first foreign trip since the coronavirus pandemic and the first ever by a pope to Iraq, is a sign that “You’re not alone,” said Monsignor Segundo Tejado Muñoz, the undersecretary of the Vatican’s development office. “People want to look for …

Pope moves ahead with plans to meet Shiite leader in Iraq
3 years, 10 months ago

Pope moves ahead with plans to meet Shiite leader in Iraq

Associated Press  

ROME — Pope Francis will meet with Iraq’s top Shiite Muslim cleric, Ali al-Sistani, during a trip next month that will also include a pilgrimage to ancient Christian communities that were emptied and devastated in battles with the Islamic State group. The Vatican on Monday released the itinerary of Francis’ March 5-8 visit to Iraq, his first foreign trip since …

Pope to meet Iraqi Shiite leader Sistani in Iraq
3 years, 10 months ago

Pope to meet Iraqi Shiite leader Sistani in Iraq

The Hindu  

Iraq’s top Catholic official said Thursday that a deadly suicide bombing in Baghdad hasn’t thwarted Pope Francis’ plans to visit, and he confirmed the pontiff would meet with the country’s top Shiite cleric, Ali al-Sistani, in a significant highlight of the first-ever papal trip to Iraq. The Chaldean patriarch, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, provided the first details of Francis’ March …

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