Pope to see Iraq's top Shiite during March visit

(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 28 - Pope Francis will meet Iraq's top Shiite authority, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, during his historic first visit to the Asian country on March 5-8, Baghdad Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako said Thursday, according to AFP.
    It will be a private visit, "without formality", he said.
    Sako voiced the hope that al-Sistani and the pope would sign a historic declaration of fraternity Francis signed with the grand imam of al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, in Abu Dhabi during his first-ever visit to the Arabian peninsula in February 2019.
    (ANSA).