Lebanese Shiite delegation heads to Vatican for peace prayer

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A delegation headed by Lebanon’s Grand Shiite Jaafarite Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan left for the Vatican Tuesday. The visit is in response to an invitation from Pope Benedict XVI to take part in an interreligious prayer for peace. The pope has invited representatives from the Hindu, Jewish, Taoist and Muslim faith to join him next week for a peace pilgrimage to Italy’s hilltop town of Assisi. The group will not actually pray together as the pope doesn’t want to show different beliefs and rituals mixing, the Associated Press reported last week. The Oct. 27 event marks the 25th anniversary of the first such interreligious prayer for peace, which was promoted by Pope John Paul II and held in the town known for its native son St. Francis.       /129