Pope Francis will meet with Iraq's leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, during his upcoming visit to the Middle East country — the first ever by a pope, an Iraqi Catholic official told AFP. 

Louis Sako, the patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, told the agency that the pope and Sistani are expected to have a “private visit ... without formalities” in the southern city of Najaf. The 90-year-old Sistani is the spiritual leader of Iraq’s Shiite majority and is a highly revered figure for millions of Muslims around the world. 

Sako said he hoped the two men would sign the “Document on Human Fraternity,” a text calling for an end to religious-based hatred and extremism. Francis signed the document with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar mosque, during a visit to Abu Dhabi in 2019. 

Francis’ historic visit to Iraq will mark his first international trip since before the pandemic. His itinerary for March 5-8 includes visits to the capital, Baghdad, the second-largest Iraqi city, Mosul, and Ur, the southern city named in the Bible as the birthplace of Abraham. The pope will also hold mass in Baghdad and the northern Kurdish city of Erbil, Sako said