Most of the Protestant sites I visited said:
"Here is a photo of the Pope at the end
of an audience with Patriarch Raphael I of Iraq where "the Pope bowed to the Muslim
holy book the Qu'ran presented to him by the delegation and kissed it as a sign of
respect". [or something similar
click here for some examples 1,
2, 3,]
First, there is question as to whether Patriarch Raphael I
was present at the time, second the picture is not of him but of a member of
the the Iraqi delegation.
When I first saw these articles, I thought it was a mistake,
they could not have been right. It was when I saw everyone
reference Patriarch Raphael I of Iraq, that the pieces of the puzzle fell in
to place.
The Chaldean Patriarch of Iraq, Raphael I Bidawid
is the spiritual guide of the majority of Iraq's Christians -- who still celebrate their
liturgy in Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus. Of the 20 million Iraqi citizens, some
one million are Christians. Of these, 80% are Catholics belonging to either the Chaldean
or Latin Rites. This was reported by Raphael
I Bidawid, Patriarch of the Chaldeans in an interview with the FIDES News
Service, as follows:
“On
May 14th I was received by the Pope, together with a delegation composed of
the Shiite imam of Khadum mosque and the Sunni President of the council of
administration of the Iraqi Islamic Bank. There was also a representative of
the Iraqi ministry of religion. I renewed our invitation to the Pope because
his visit would be for us a grace from heaven. It would confirm the faith of
Christians and prove the Pope’s love for the whole of humanity in a country
which is mainly Muslim. At the end of the audience the Pope bowed to
the Muslim holy book the Koran presented to him by the delegation and he
kissed it as a sign of respect. The photo of that gesture has been shown
repeatedly on Iraqi television and it demonstrates that the Pope is not
only aware of the suffering of the Iraqi people, he has also great respect for
Islam.”
The Patriarch of the Chaldeans tells us the
intention of John Paul II in kissing the Muslim book, It was not to show
acceptance of this book, the kiss was to show his "aware
of the suffering of the Iraqi people" and his respect
for the Muslims of Iraq. Unlike most of Muslim nations, Iraq (at the
time) had, like us, the separation of Church and State. This meaning that in
the predominantly Muslim Iraq Christians were granted the freedom to worship
publicly.
