Yazidis thank Pope Francis for his support at Vatican meeting

c. 2015 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY (RNS) An estimated 5,000 Yazidi women are being held as slaves by militants from the self-declared Islamic State, Pope Francis was told when he met a top-level delegation of Yazidi leaders at the Vatican on Thursday (January 8).

The delegation was led by Tahseen Said Al Baig, the Yazidis’ secular leader, and Sheikh Kato, the group’s supreme spiritual leader, or “Baba Sheikh,” the Vatican said in a statement.