Ayatollah A’rafi, heading a delegation, is in the Vatican at the invitation of scientific centers and religious figures.
On Thursday, he held a meeting with Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, the cardinal of the Catholic Church, and other senior officials in the city.
He referred to sociocultural and moral problems of the current era and stressed the need for cooperation among top figures of different religions to address those problems.
The Iranian cleric also said that doubts and disrespect for religion should be addressed as well.
During his meetings, Ayatollah A’rafi elaborated on Islam and the way that religion offers solutions for humans’ problems.
He spoke about the role the Islamic seminaries play in education and research, and explained that the institutes have in recent years paid special attention to studies on Islam and Christianity, with hundreds of books and essays being written in this regard.
As part of his trip to Italy, Ayatollah A’rafi met with Pope Francis, the Head of the Catholic Church on Tuesday, and conveyed an oral message of the Supreme Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
4194**2050
Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish