Pope, in Muslim Nation, Calls for Reconciliation

As a muezzin called faithful Muslims to prayer from the minaret of a nearby mosque, Pope John Paul II pleaded Wednesday for religious reconciliation in the name of peace and human survival.

The Roman Catholic pontiff, beginning a 14-day Indian Ocean-Pacific pilgrimage with an overnight plane flight and a crowded schedule in overwhelmingly Muslim Bangladesh, made his pleas to Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Protestant religious leaders at a colorful sunset ceremony on the grounds of Dhaka’s Catholic Cathedral of St. Mary.

John Paul noted that one of his chief reasons for taking so many arduous papal trips abroad is to “carry forth the church’s commitment to sincere and loyal dialogue with other religious traditions concerning the common spiritual and human destiny which we all share.” Then he added:

“There is a growing conviction that something must urgently be done to secure the peace and development that are the conditions for a better future for the whole human race. We are painfully aware that man’s God-given dignity, and even survival itself, are gravely threatened.”

Threat to Rights, Dignity

The Pope added that tensions between East and West, North and South, “as well as the many forms of violence, injustice and inequality, are a present and growing threat to human rights and human dignity.”

The answer, he said, “is my constant prayer that the harmony of mind demonstrated by the recent (interfaith) meeting of prayer at Assisi . . . will grow from day to day until all individuals and all peoples are reconciled in love.”

Obviously tired from a full day of speeches here after a nine-hour flight from Rome, the pontiff responded happily to colorful folk dances of Bangladesh tribal people, many of them lithe young women with gleaming black pigtails that reached to the backs of their knees. One woman with arms, hands and fingers weaving graceful patterns in the air, danced on the lip of a foot-high earthenware jar as she balanced a candle-bearing wine bottle on her head.

One of the many Muslims in the audience said he was glad the Pope had come because most people in Bangladesh did not know who he was.

“Most don’t even know what Christians are,” he said.

Reputation for Tolerance

The impoverished country is 87% Muslim, and Christians make up only about one-third of one percent of the population. It has long had a reputation for religious tolerance.

John Paul was met upon his arrival by President Hussain Mohammed Ershad, a former general who was reelected to lead the country last month in a vote boycotted by opposition political figures.

Before his appearance at the cathedral, the Pope celebrated Mass for about 50,000 people at an army stadium, during which he ordained 18 Bengali priests.

After the Mass, he took a ride through downtown Dhaka and placed a wreath at a monument to the more than 3 million people who died in the 1971 war in which Bangladesh won its independence from Pakistan.

At one point, the pontiff broke protocol and bolted from his bulletproof limousine to take a short ride in a rickshaw. Smiling broadly, he shooks hands with the startled driver.

The Pope leaves Dhaka for Singapore early today, then will proceed to the Pacific island nation of Fiji by another overnight flight tonight. After a day in Fiji, he will fly to New Zealand and Australia before returning to Rome via the Seychelles on Dec. 1.