Vatican Diplomacy got it right with Ayatollah Sistani

When the title ‘Ayatollah’ is mentioned most people outside the international relations and world politics community picture the Islamic Republic of Iran. After all, the two well-known ‘Ayatollahs’ have all come from Iran. First, Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic in 1979 and the current Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. So why did the Pope choose to engage the relatively less-known Ayatollah Ali Sistani and in Iraq? I got to know more about the politically reserved religious leader during my literature review while researching on sectarian conflicts in the Middle East some five years ago.

The main reason the Pope decided to visit Iraq as was widely reported, was to engage authorities in a confidence building process that may eventually lead to the Christian population of the country getting some protection. Iraq has one of the oldest Christian communities in the world that predates Islam. Found in a country predominantly Islamic, they have consistently faced political, economic and social seclusion. In recent years when the Islamic State was formed, the group was among those worse affected. As a religious leader and technically head of state, the Pope decided not only to engage his political counterpart in Iraq, but to project his spiritual leadership in an unfamiliar territory by meeting an equally important religious leader-Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani.

Ali al Sistani was the quintessential religious leader to meet if the Pope had to meet one in the region. While Iraq remains a Muslim dominated country, the majority sect in the country is Shia. Conservative figures place the worldwide population of Shia Islam at one fifth of the entire Muslim population. But in Iraq the sect constitutes above 60 percent of the population. The Ayatollah is the senior-most or most influential cleric of the sect in the country. That is, spiritually he represents majority of Iraqis. So, per the numbers in Iraq, he is the best point of contact for the best possible outcome.

Ayatollah Sistani belongs to what has been referred to as the quietist school of Shia Islamic scholarship who do not take active official positions in politics. He has largely acted as an interventionist in domestic politics and a peace broker between rival political factions. After the invasion of Iraq, he called for a democratic transitional process. He was virtually ‘lecturing’ the United States on democracy. His disinterest in assuming a political position unlike the Ayatollahs in Iran has put him above partisan politics and consequently earned him respect in the region. In a 2005 opinion piece of the New York Times, Thomas Freidman suggested that al Sistani be nominated for Nobel Peace Prize. That was from an American.?Liberals in Iran that do not support the open participation of clerics in politics revere him. Granted, his position on politics has not gone without opposition within the Shia sect in and out of Iraq, however he is generally accepted as a rare pacifist by observers of the region.

Despite the fact that al Sistani is originally from Iran, (a non-Arab state) his long stay in Iraq, an Arab republic has granted him much influence on Shia Arabians across the region. He has adherents in Syria and Lebanon, two states with significant Christian minorities with predicaments similar to those in Iraq. With Shias controlling governments in Iraq and Syria and, exercising significant political power in Lebanon, the Pope met the right cleric for the occasion. Admittedly, Iran has got political influence over al Assad and Hezbollah, however al Sistani’s influence transcends politics as it does not come with any political strings. In religious scholarship he is often placed above Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran. Some hold that the Supreme leader of Iran largely inherited the title of Ayatollah without the level of scholarship that is required to attain the height. Al-Sistani, having gone through the mill and understudying revered Ayatollahs before his ascension to the top, has earned some transnational legitimacy in his own right. This invaluable asset is what the Vatican seek to utilize to preserve its history in the region.

By choosing to engage al Sistani, the Vatican intelligently avoided upsetting governments in the region who might view such sectarian recognition as offensive. The Middle East presents a delicate diplomatic environment even to the most discreet of diplomats. In meeting a sectarian leader there was the possibility of touching some nerves especially among Sunni led governments and monarchies. However, the relative tolerance and soft political stance of al-Sistani is more likely to limit these discomfort and possible backlash from sectarian rivals. In fact, the CNN reported in 2020 that the Ayatollah issued a religious ruling in 2013 forbidding the shedding of ‘Sunni blood’—a progressive move in a country with bloody sectarian clashes. The independence of al-Sistani from Iranian influence has therefore earned him respect, if not recognition across the different sects, which has made him a diplomatic precious stone to the Papacy.

The early optical successes of the Pope’s visit will however not go without later challenges. The persecution of Christian minorities across the region did not start recently and would therefore need time for some real changes to be felt. More importantly the Ayatollah’s influence, like others of similar nature exists as long as he lives—he is ninety. Moreover, there are other powerful sects in the region like the Sunni that do not share in the teachings and admonishments of the religious leader despite their regard for him. The Sunni forms a majority of the international Muslim population and an influential group in Iraq where they had ruled for a long time until the ouster of Saddam in 2003. In Syria, the Sunnis are actually the majority in the country despite Shia (Alawi) control of government. There are also extremist groups that are beyond the control of legitimate political and religious actors in the region. Remnants of Islamic State and al- Qaeda are still roaming the geography.?These dynamics and factors will mean more engagements by the Vatican at the very local levels to encourage more accommodation of the Christian communities it seeks to protect.

With so much tension around the world many of which have religious underpinnings, the current engagement of Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani by the Pope presents a good example for others to follow. His disinterest in partisan politics, influence on Shia adherents across states and general tolerance made him the right religious leader the Pope could ever engage in his agenda of protecting the Church’s legacy in the region. The Vatican should however expand its tentacles of engagement to other sects—because the Ayatollah has his limits.

By: Fidel Amakye Owusu

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image source: (1) timesofisrael.com. (2) lib.utexas.edu