NAJAF, Iraq — On the second day of his visit to Iraq, Pope Francis, the highest authority in the Catholic church and the sovereign of the Vatican City State, flew to Najaf, to hold a historic meeting with the country's top Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Starting in the early morning of March 6, children lined up on Rasul Street next to Najaf’s Imam Ali Shrine, waving Iraqi and Vatican flags while patiently waiting for the pontiff’s motorcade to arrive.

The pope's motorcade finally pulled onto Rasul street, which ends at the gates of the shrine of Imam Ali, who is not only a highly regarded spiritual figure among all sects of Shiite and Sunni Islam, but also a respected figure among Christian Arabs. Sayings attributed to the central figure of Shiite Islam are written on banners all over the city of Najaf, with one banner proclaiming, “Our enemies are not the Jews or the Christians, our enemy is our own ignorance.”

Francis' vehicle stopped a few steps before the gates of the shrine in front of an alley where the ayatollah has a rented a modest home for decades. Upon his arrival, white doves were released as symbol of peace and then the pontiff walked through the narrow alley towards Sistani’s house.