Pope Francis meets top Shiite cleric in Iraq

On the few occasions where he has made his opinion known, the notoriously reclusive al-Sistani has shifted the course of Iraq’s modern history.

Pope Francis arrives to meet Shiite Muslim leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf on Saturday (Anmar Khalil/AP)

Pope Francis met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani – one of the most senior clerics in Shiite Islam – in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf on Saturday to deliver a message of peaceful coexistence, urging Muslims to embrace Iraq’s long-beleaguered Christian minority.

The historic meeting in al-Sistani’s humble home was months in the making, with every detail painstakingly discussed and negotiated between the ayatollah’s office and the Vatican.