Resignation of Pope Benedict

“The Ramadhan Foundation is shocked as is the whole world to learn of the resignation of Pope Benedict and subsequent election of a new Pope which will come shortly.  His Papacy will be sadly remembered from the Muslim world by his distortion and attack on Islam as he came to the Papacy.  This sadly meant the hard work of his predecessor Pope John Paul II was tarnished and required extensive work to rebuild ties between Christianity and Islam.  That is something he has tried to do over the past eight years and we do wish it could have started better than it did.

The Catholic Church now has a chance to return back to the teachings and practices of Pope John Paul II which were of inter faith work and respect for our respective positions and I hope that once a new pope is elected we actually see our faiths come together.

On a personal level I would like to wish the Pope Benedict the very best for the future, we can understand the turmoil this decision has had on him and the Catholic Church and are certain that the best wishes from the world are with him.

Faith in the world is under attack from rampant secularism and it requires people of all faith to come together, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and those of all faith need to ensure that faith is not trashed as we so often see.  Whether it is terrorism, child abuse or everyday attacks against religious people around the world, it requires us to all stand together.”