March 08, 2021
Pope Francis returned to Rome on March 8 after a historic 4-day visit to Iraq, which was highlighted by an inter-religious ceremony at Ur, the birthplace of the patriarch Abraham.
Before that meeting, which had been billed as a prayerful gathering of the “children of Abraham,” the Pope met with AyatollaySayyid al-Sistani, the leader of Iraq’s Shiite Muslims. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said that meeting was “an occasion for the Pope to thank Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani for speaking up… in defense of those most vulnerable and persecuted” during the years of violence in Iraq.
At the meeting in Ur, the Pope said: “Today we Jews, Christians, and Muslims, together with our brothers and sisters of our religions honor our father Abraham by doing as he did: we look up to heaven and we journey on earth.” In fact, however, despite the urgings of the Vatican, Iraqi organizers refused to allow a Jewish delegation to participate in the ceremony.