Disir
Platinum Member
- Sep 30, 2011
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Iraqi officials in government, too, see the meeting’s symbolic power — as does Tehran.
The 90-year-old al-Sistani has been a consistent counterweight to Iran’s influence. With the meeting, Francis is implicitly recognizing him as the chief interlocutor of Shiite Islam over his rival, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. News of the meeting heightened long-standing rivalries between the Shiite seminaries of Najaf and Iran’s city of Qom over which stands at the center of the Shiite world.
“It will be a private visit without precedent in history, and it will not have an equal to any previous visits,” said a religious official in Najaf, involved in the planning.
For the Vatican, it was a meeting decades in the making, one that eluded Francis’ predecessors.
“Najaf did not make it easy,” said one Christian religious official close to the planning from the Vatican side, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the visit’s delicacy.
apnews.com
I didn't realize that al-Sistani was 90. This will be interesting. I think the expectations here are entirely too high.
The 90-year-old al-Sistani has been a consistent counterweight to Iran’s influence. With the meeting, Francis is implicitly recognizing him as the chief interlocutor of Shiite Islam over his rival, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. News of the meeting heightened long-standing rivalries between the Shiite seminaries of Najaf and Iran’s city of Qom over which stands at the center of the Shiite world.
“It will be a private visit without precedent in history, and it will not have an equal to any previous visits,” said a religious official in Najaf, involved in the planning.
For the Vatican, it was a meeting decades in the making, one that eluded Francis’ predecessors.
“Najaf did not make it easy,” said one Christian religious official close to the planning from the Vatican side, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the visit’s delicacy.
Intense preparations before pontiff meets Iraqi ayatollah
BAGHDAD (AP) — 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.
apnews.com
I didn't realize that al-Sistani was 90. This will be interesting. I think the expectations here are entirely too high.
