Pakistan: Muslim Leaders Pay Homage to John Paul II

John Paul II and Pakistan President Zia-ul-Haq at Karachi, February 16, 1981.

At the preview of a photograph exhibition dedicated to John Paul II, organized on April 27 in Lahore (east of the country), some important Pakistani Muslim leaders paid homage to the former pope for “his contribution to peace and inter-religious dialogue.” According to a press release from the agency Fides on May 7, Syed Abdul Khabeer Azad, imam of the mosque of Lahore, declared that “St. John Paul II worked for the well-being of all humanity, without any discrimination.” For the head of the largest worship center in all of Pakistan, “his name will live on in the history of the world as that of a man committed to building peace and promoting inter-religious dialogue.”

According to this same press release by Fides, another Muslim leader who visited the exhibition, Pir Shafaat Rasool, president of the Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, declared that “people remember those who work for the well-being and the progress of humanity, and not for war and destruction. Pope John Paul II lives on in our hearts because he continued to fight to better the peoples of the world.” This homage from the mouths of Muslim officials shows just how much the inter-religious dialogue promoted by John Paul II erased any apostolate in favor of the true Faith.

The exposition, entitled “John Paul II and Pakistan”, commemorates the pope’s historic visit to Pakistan on February 16, 1981, and presents over 100 photos and pictures.

(sources: apic/fides – DICI no.297 dated June 6, 2014)

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