section_path: Relations with other Christian denominations and religions/Religions/Islam
section_name: Islam
paragraph_text: Islam
  
  John Paul II made considerable efforts to improve relations between Catholicism and Islam.
  
  He officially supported the project of the Mosque of Rome and participated in the inauguration in 1995.
  
  On 14 May 1999, at a meeting with Muslim leaders in Syria, he was gifted and then promptly kissed a Qur'an, an act that was controversial with some Catholics.
  
  On 6 May 2001, he became the first Catholic pope to enter and pray in a mosque, namely the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria. Respectfully removing his shoes, he entered the former Byzantine-era Christian church dedicated to John the Baptist, who is also revered as a prophet of Islam. He gave a speech including the statement: "For all the times that Muslims and Christians have offended one another, we need to seek forgiveness from the Almighty and to offer each other forgiveness."
  
  In 2004, John Paul II hosted the " Papal Concert of Reconciliation ", which brought together leaders of Islam with leaders of the Jewish community and of the Catholic Church at the Vatican for a concert by the Kraków Philharmonic Choir from Poland, the London Philharmonic Choir from the United Kingdom, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from the United States, and the Ankara State Polyphonic Choir of Turkey. The event was conceived and conducted by Gilbert Levine, KCSG and was broadcast throughout the world.
  
  John Paul II oversaw the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which makes a special provision for Muslims; therein, it is written, "together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."
  
  John Paul II made considerable efforts to improve relations between Catholicism and Islam.
  
  He officially supported the project of the Mosque of Rome and participated in the inauguration in 1995.
  
  On 14 May 1999, at a meeting with Muslim leaders in Syria, he was gifted and then promptly kissed a Qur'an, an act that was controversial with some Catholics.
  
  On 6 May 2001, he became the first Catholic pope to enter and pray in a mosque, namely the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria. Respectfully removing his shoes, he entered the former Byzantine-era Christian church dedicated to John the Baptist, who is also revered as a prophet of Islam. He gave a speech including the statement: "For all the times that Muslims and Christians have offended one another, we need to seek forgiveness from the Almighty and to offer each other forgiveness."
  
  In 2004, John Paul II hosted the " Papal Concert of Reconciliation ", which brought together leaders of Islam with leaders of the Jewish community and of the Catholic Church at the Vatican for a concert by the Kraków Philharmonic Choir from Poland, the London Philharmonic Choir from the United Kingdom, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from the United States, and the Ankara State Polyphonic Choir of Turkey. The event was conceived and conducted by Gilbert Levine, KCSG and was broadcast throughout the world.
  
  John Paul II oversaw the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which makes a special provision for Muslims; therein, it is written, "together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."