Posted on 03/06/21
| News Source: i24
One of the religious world's most historic meetings began on Saturday morning in Iraq: for the first time, Pope Francis, spiritual leader of globe's the 1.3 billion Catholics, was received by the Great Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's highest religious authority and leader to many in Shia Islam.
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The meeting, on the second day of the first-ever papal visit to Iraq, marked a landmark moment in modern religious history and a milestone in Francis's efforts to deepen dialogue with other religions.
He later addressed the rich spectrum of Iraq's religious communities at Ur, the traditional birthplace of the Prophet Abraham, a central figure in the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths, where he made an impassioned plea for "unity" after conflict.
The 84-year-old pontiff's trip to Iraq is an effort to both comfort the country's ancient but dwindling Christian community and deepen his dialogue with other faiths. Read more at i24