Hawzah News Agency- Hujjat al-Islam Mohammad Reza Barteh , Head of the Cyberspace Center for Iranian Seminary made some remarks at the council meeting for Seminary deputies in Qom on Sunday, June 12 during which he reported on the media activities of Ayatollah Arafi and his accompanying delegation to several European countries, especially his meeting with Pope Francis and said, ‘Such trips could raise controversy in different ways, in spite of religious matters, it could cause great controversy regarding the issue of Ukraine and the international position of the Islamic Republic of Iran.’

The spokesman of the Center for the Management of Seminaries Hujjat al-Islam Barteh further stated, ‘With the establishment of a media center, media trustees and writers were present and were informed about the principles and philosophy of this trip and almost no serious controversy was created and the necessary results were achieved.

Regarding the international coverage of the trip, he said, ‘Understanding the boundaries of the Catholic Church and addressing this trip very wisely was covered in the personal Twitter accounts of Pope Francis as well as the Vatican News.’

The managing director of Hawzah News Agency further asserted, ‘The international media thoroughly covered news regarding Ayatollah Arafi’s visit to the Vatican and there has never been a similar case in previous trips of Shia figures to the Vatican; the important point was that the academic media paid special attention to this trip.’

‘The special attention of academic personalities and their notes about this trip was a sign of enthusiasm for this visit to take place.’ Hujjat al-Islam Barteh concluded.