Iraq, the Pope meets Al-Sistani, then visits Ur dei Chaldeans

In Najaf, the awaited visit of Francis to the leader of the Shiite community, then the arrival in the city of Patriarch Abraham for the interreligious meeting and, the final act of the day, the celebration in the Chaldean rite in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Baghdad

Cecilia Seppia - Vatican City The Pope's historic journey to Iraq continues as a “pilgrim and penitent”, eager to bring peace and hope and to ask forgiveness from Heaven and from the brothers of every faith for the many destructions and cruelties perpetrated in this beloved land. Few ceremonials, almost no convivial moments, excluding crowds due to the stringent anti-Covid safety regulations, armored movements, but even in this second day of Francis in the Gulf Country there will be gestures with a strong symbolic value, the smile and the embrace of a shepherd who strongly desired to meet this flock and who now walks in the footsteps of Abraham, "Patriarch of many".

Francesco and Al-Sistani From Baghdad airport, early in the morning, Francis flies to Najaf, an ancient city founded in 791 AD. by the caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd, known as Imām Alī and today the main Iraqi Shiite religious center. Crucial stage of the Successor of Peter in this holy place is the ongoing meeting with Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Al-Husayni Al-Sistani, leader of the Iraqi Shiite community and director of the hawza (or of the Twelver Shiite religious seminary) of Najaf . He who in 2004 supported the launch of free elections, thus making a huge contribution to planning the first democratic government in the country. But also the one who in 2014 called the people to unite and fight against the oppression and the advance of the self-styled Islamic State and in 2019, during riots for the discontent generated by the high cost of living and the political crisis, urged demonstrators and police to keep calm and not to resort to violence in any way, and then ask for and obtain in a short time the resignation of the executive and the electoral reform, which led Iraq to take the first steps towards slow and historical meeting between Francis and Al-Sistani The interreligious meeting in Ur.

Another flight from Najaf to Nassiriya and then the transfer by car to Ur of the Chaldeans, will take the Pope to one of the oldest and most important Sumerian cities, known today as Tell al-Muqayyar, which in Arabic means "hill of peace". Capital of an empire, the Sumerian one, which at the end of the third millennium BC dominated over the whole of Mesopotamia, Ur represents according to tradition, the place where Abraham was born, the "Patriarch of many", a figure who unites the destinies of Jews, Christians and Muslims. It is here that for the first time, as we read in the Bible, Abraham spoke with God to then follow up on His will to leave his homeland and move to the land of Canaan and it is from here that the Pope relaunches his message of fraternity.

In the footsteps of Abraham In the interreligious meeting scheduled at 11.10 local time, Francis, after having listened to some testimonies, including that of a woman of the Mandean Sabaean religion and a Muslim man, will in fact deliver a speech to the exponents of the communities present at which, as to all members of the country, so far the invitation to remain committed and anchored to peace, to build a new future made up of unity and friendship to overcome the wounds of the past through reconciliation and fraternal coexistence, has not tired of reiterating.

The celebration in the Chaldean rite After this event, the Pontiff will return to Baghdad where, at 6 pm local time, in the Cathedral of St. Joseph, he will preside over a celebration in the Chaldean rite and deliver the homily in Italian. At the end of the ceremony, the greeting of His Beatitude Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, always at his side on this 33rd apostolic journey. The first stone of this Cathedral was laid by the Chaldean Patriarch Yusef VII Ghanima on September 14, 1952, the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

VATICAN NEWS ITALY ~ HOLY SEE PRESS (Translated to English 03/07/2021) per: https://www.vaticannews.va/it/papa/news/2021-03/al-via-la-seconda-giornata-del-papa-in-iraq-nuovi-gesti-di-pace.html