Pope Francis hails Iran over rich history, courage, religious system

Manager of seminaries in Iran has submitted his report from his recent visit to the Vatican and Pope Francis as the leader of Catholic Church lauded Islamic Republic of Iran for its brevity in the international arena, religious system and also its rich history.

Ayatollah Alireza A'rafi, heading a delegation of Iranian clerics in a recent visit to the Vatican, related on his meeting with Pope Francis and 30 programs the delegation had in trips to Italy, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands, reported Taqrib News Agency (TNA).

He praised the friendly meeting with Pope Francis and appreciated the religious figure for efforts to counter Islamophobia and highlighted the measures taken by the Catholic leader in line with defending the oppressed nations.

Ayatollah A'rafi counted two topics he underscored in meeting with Pope Francis: solidarity of Islamic denominations and also a meeting between leader of the Catholic Church and top Shia jurist Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Sistani.

Senior Iranian scholar highlighted the logical infrastructure of seminary, history of Islamic Fiq'h and also the moral and mystic arena of Shia seminary.

He enumerated inadequate knowledge of people on spirituality and religious beliefs, poverty, environmental crisis, occupation of Palestine and religious extremism among the most important issues in the world.

Ayatollah A'rafi also made proposals for further interaction between Shia seminaries and the Catholic Church, reaching common stance in confrontation with current issues of the world and also following the same strategy to confront desecration of religions.

Pope Francis for his part stressed," As a native of Latin America I appreciate Iran's brevity in the face of global challenges.