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Date Posted: 06:38:50 05/08/09 Fri
Author: pastor lewis
Subject: Pope in Jordan stresses 'deep respect' for Islam

Pope in Jordan stresses 'deep respect' for Islam
11 hours ago

AMMAN (AFP) — Pope Benedict XVI stressed his "deep respect" for Islam on Friday in Jordan, on his first trip as pontiff to an Arab state, and stressed that religious freedom is a fundamental human right.

Speaking after receiving a red carpet welcome from King Abdullah II and Queen Rania at Queen Alia Airport's royal pavilion at the start of an eight-day tour of the Holy Land, the pope said he had come to Jordan "as a pilgrim."

The visit, he said, "gives me a welcome opportunity to speak of my deep respect for the Muslim community, and to pay tribute to the leadership shown by His Majesty the King in promoting a better understanding of the virtues proclaimed by Islam."

He also stressed that he viewed religious freedom as "a fundamental human right."

"It is my fervent hope and prayer that respect for the inalienable rights and dignity of every man and woman will come to be increasingly affirmed and defended, not only throughout the Middle East, but in every part of the world," he said.

Jordan's opposition Islamic Action Front party said earlier this week the pope was not welcome unless he apologised for remarks he made in 2006, which it says targeted Islam.

"What we want is a change in his policies, so that it is in harmony with the teachings of Jesus about love, peace, justice, equality and condemnations of crimes and Zionist terrorism," IAF chief Zaki Bani Rsheid told AFP.

In the speech in question, the pope quoted a mediaeval Christian emperor who criticised some teachings of the Prophet Mohammed as "evil and inhuman."

He subsequently apologised for the "unfortunate misunderstanding."

In a welcoming address to the pope, King Abdullah urged an expansion of Christian-Muslim dialogue to dispel "divisions."

Stressing the "importance of co-existence and harmony between Muslim and Christian" the monarch warned that "voices of provocation, ambitious ideologies of division, threaten unspeakable suffering."

"We welcome your commitment to dispel the misconceptions and divisions that have harmed relations between Christians and Muslims... It is my hope that together we can expand the dialogue we have opened," Abdullah told the pontiff.

From the aiport, Benedict travelled to the capital some 30 kilometres (18 miles) away for the first stop on a crowded itinerary, a visit to the Regina Pacis centre for the handicapped.

Christians in Jordan number around 200,000 of a total population of about six million.

On his arrival Benedict stressed that his first Holy Land trip as pontiff should be seen as a pilgrimage.

"I come to Jordan as a pilgrim, to venerate holy places that have played such an important part in some of the key events of Biblical history," he said.

The pope is to divide his visit between Jordan and Israel, with a stop in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.

Some political and religious groups in the region have already made it clear they expect more than platitudes from the 82-year-old head of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics, with the visit raising a daunting array of religious and political challenges for the pontiff.

On Saturday he was to follow in the footsteps of John Paul II in 2000 with a stop in Mount Nebo, where the Bible says God showed the Promised Land to Moses.

The pontiff concludes his visit to the kingdom with a prayer at Wadi Kharrar on the east bank of the River Jordan, where many Christians believe Jesus was baptised, before leaving for Tel Aviv on Monday morning.

Israel will also roll out the red carpet for Benedict, counting on the visit to help rebuild its image following its December-January offensive against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.

The Coalition for Jerusalem, an alliance of Palestinian advocacy groups, on Thursday urged him to denounce what they called atrocities committed against their people by Israel.

"Jerusalem today, and under the eyes and full knowledge of the international community, is witnessing yet another wave of Israel's ethnic cleansing crimes that continue since 1948," they wrote in an open letter.

But the pope is unlikely to want to further strain relations with Israel.

In recent months, they have clashed over the pope's decision to lift the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop, Richard Williamson of Britain, and the sainthood dossier of Pope Pius XII.

Israel reviles him for his stance during the Holocaust.

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