Pope touches hearts among Muslims

[SwordFish_13]

Hi,

BBC News

Pope John Paul is also being mourned in the Muslim world.

Amongst those offering condolences are President Mohammad Khatami of Iran, a country that is 99% Muslim, and one of the senior imams in Lebanon, Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah.

In the Arab and the Muslim world, the Pope has been remembered above all for his support for the rights of Palestinians.

His opposition to the war in Iraq also won him widespread support.

But Pope John Paul is also praised for his work to promote dialogue between the different faiths.

He was the first Pope to pay an official visit to a mosque.

The Omayyad Mosque

In the year 2000, the Pope entered a mosque in the Syrian capital, Damascus, which also contains the tomb of John the Baptist, the Christian saint.

A leading cleric in Malaysia said he hoped Pope John Paul's successor would follow in his footsteps to increase understanding between Muslims and Christians.

Peace
-=SF_13=-

 

[WarMachine]

Probably one of the better things the pope did during his reign was to consolidate so many differences between the various faiths of the world and catholicism that were around since the middle ages. It's a shame he was so enfeebled for the last ten years or so, otherwise he would've been seen as a more robust and able leader.

 

[Charge 7]

Weakened physically yes, but I doubt many thought of him as unable and certainly not infirm in his faith and consequently his power.

 

[WarMachine]

True to many catholics who know what the man goes through. But in countries of other dominant faiths or denominations, like the usa, i think a lot of non cahtolics saw him as unable to maintain his postion very well. I don't think those videos of him drooling helped. Maybe it's just from an american point of view where we percieve leaders as needing to be strong and fit for service. But i got to hand it to him, doing as much as he did when he was in such a bad condition.