Iraq’s top Shiite cleric says Pope Francis sought peace

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Shiite Islam’s highest authority in Iraq, offered his condolences on Monday for the death of Pope Francis, praising his work promoting “peace and tolerance”.

Sistani, 94, who met the late pontiff in 2021 in the first-ever papal visit to Iraq, said in a statement issued by his office that it was an “important milestone” in supporting interfaith dialogue and “rejecting violence and hatred”.

Francis had a “special role in serving the causes of peace and tolerance, and…