John Paul II kissing the Moslem Koran

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On 14 May 1999, John Paul II kissed the Moslem Koran as a sign of respect:

"... 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..... At the end of the audience the Pope bowed to the Moslem holy book the Koran presented to him by the delegation and he kissed it as a sign of respect."

— Raphael I Bidawid, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans.
FIDES News Service, 4 June 1999.