Iran's Rouhani's meeting at the Vatican/with Pope Francis

[Guest]

A Vatican statement issued after the meeting spoke of the "relevant role Iran is called on to play" to find political solutions to the problems afflicting the Middle East.

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Ira...rrorism-442834

[Guest]

Re: Iran's Rouhani's meeting at the Vatican/with Pope Francis

Rouhani asks for Pope Francis' prayers

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-pre...n-pray-for-me/

[Guest]

Re: Iran's Rouhani's meeting at the Vatican/with Pope Francis

Interesting...

Bond between Vatican and Iran a partnership destined to endure

http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2016/0...ned-to-endure/[QUOTE]

Iran and the Holy See established full diplomatic ties in 1954, 30 years before the United States did so in 1984 under Ronald Reagan, and the bond has remained uninterrupted ever since, even during the Iranian Revolution and the US hostage crisis.

If Italian media reports are to be believed, Rouhani may have presented Francis with a formal invitation to make an historic visit to Iran, perhaps as early as May, when the pontiff is also considering a trip to Armenia.

At one level, the close ties between Rome and Tehran reflect the often under-appreciated fact that both the Vatican and post-revolutionary Iran are basically theocracies, representing spiritual traditions — Catholicism and Shia Islam — that have a surprising amount in common.

Iranian writer Vali Nasr, author of the 2006 book “The Shia Revival,” argues that the divide between Sunni and Shia bears comparison to that between Protestants and Catholics, with Shia being the branch closer to Catholicism.
Among those points of contact are:

A strong emphasis on clerical authority
An approach to the Quran accenting both scripture and tradition
A deep mystical streak
Devotion to a holy family (in the case of Shiites, the blood relatives of Mohammad) and to saints (the Twelve Imams)
A theology of sacrifice and atonement through the death of Hussain, grandson of Mohammad and the first imam of Shia Islam
Belief in free will (as opposed to the Sunni doctrine of pre-destination)
Holy days, pilgrimages, and healing shrines
Intercessory prayer
Strongly emotional forms of popular devotion, especially the festival of Ashoura commemorating Hussain’s death

One recent sign of the spiritual vicinity is that Iranian scholars recently translated the Confessions of Augustine and the Catechism of the Catholic Church into Farsi, the result of a 12-year effort.

[Guest]

Re: Iran's Rouhani's meeting at the Vatican/with Pope Francis

Why Iran is really cozying up to the Vatican

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/issu...o-the-vatican/