A leading Muslim theologian described the late John Paul II in glowing terms on Tuesday, highlighting the support among non-Christians for moves to canonise the Polish pontiff.
"Pope John Paul II was the strongest voice for hope and justice that I have ever heard," said Prof. Mohammed Amine Smaili, a lecturer in Islamic dogma at the University of Rabat in Morocco.
The theologian was speaking in Assisi, at an inter-religious meeting marking the 20th anniversary of the first prayer meeting called by John Paul to get leaders of different religions praying together for peace. Mohammed Amine did not refer specifically to moves in the Vatican to make John Paul a saint. But the terms in which he spoke made his feelings clear.
"He was a friend of the oppressed, the poor, the sick, a defender of the dignity of every human being," he said, underlining the previous pope's attachment to inter-religious dialogue.
Earlier this year it emerged that many people of other religions, and even some non-believers, are volunteering their testimony to Catholic officials working for the beatification of John Paul.
Procedures leading to the Polish pontiff's beatification - the halfway mark on the road to sainthood - began last summer. Part of the process involves gathering statements from people who knew or who had particular information about him.
Joaquin Navarro-Valls, who was Vatican spokesman until this summer, said messages from people attesting to John Paul's saintliness have arrived from agnostics, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus. Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the Polish priest overseeingJohn Paul's cause, has been quoted in the Italian pressas confirming that at least five non-Catholics had sent him letters.
He recalled the case of an Anglican man who said he had been freed of a longstanding "pain" after dreaming of John Paul and an Orthodox Christian woman who said her son was cured of depression thanks to the pontiff's "intercession".
Father Oder also mentioned a Jewish man, a Hindu woman and a Muslim woman who he said "expressed admiration" for John Paul.
One of the reasons for the esteem shown towards the former pope was his clear commitment to inter-religious dialogue, demonstrated in part by his many visits to non-Christian countries.
Prof.Mohammed Amine said he remembered John Paul's trip to his country, Morocco, in 1985. In Casablanca, the leader of the world's Catholics invited the 80,000 young Muslims gathered there to work for harmony between peoples. "He was an exceptional man who combined vast learning with a fabulous intelligence. To my mind, as a Muslim, he was the light of inter-religious dialogue. It was he who said: if you talk to me, you won't shoot me."
Thanks to his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, the Polish pontiff's cause is on a fast track. Procedures began with a ceremony in Rome on June 28 last year, less than three months after his death on April 2.
