Leaders of other faiths here mourn 'a great inspiration to all believers'

Chicago religious leaders mourned the passing of a man of faithwhose influence, they said, transcended his own flock.

"We remember him as one who forever remained a friend of theJewish people. He transformed the relationship of the Roman CatholicChurch towards Judaism," the Jewish Federation of Chicago said in astatement.

"He brought to his papacy the experience of growing up in Polandin a town where he had Jewish friends, and of being a young priestduring the time of the war and the Holocaust ... he had a kind ofintuitive respect and connection with the Jewish people," saidMichael Kotzin, executive vice president of the federation.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, leader of Rainbow/PUSH and a Baptistminister, recalled being granted audiences with the pontiff threetimes between 1980 and 1999.

"This pope did some awesome things. He has been a huge moral voicefor hope around the world," Jackson said. "He railed against thegodless state of communism. He railed against the idea of Jesus beingkilled by the Jews. He identified with our civil rights struggles.... We thank God for his life, for his service and for hischaracter."

'Charisma ... was the constant'

The Greek Orthodox Diocese of Chicago described the pope as a"visionary, and a great man."

"This was a historical figure, whether you are Roman Catholic ornot," said the diocese chancellor, the Very Rev. Demetri Kantzavelo."This was a man who brought down communism -- without an army. It'san amazing point of history."

The Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago saidthose meeting the pope were drawn in by a charisma he exuded eventhrough failing health.

"I saw a little bit of the [October 1979] Grant Park mass ... andI was struck by this lean, athletic figure," said the Rev. StanDavis, associate director of the council. Years later, as part of aninterfaith delegation accompanying Cardinal Francis George to Rome,Davis had an audience with the pope and saw "his body was beginningto change so dramatically, but the intelligence in his eyes . . . hischarisma, that was the constant."

The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago said thepope's "visits to Muslim countries, and his opposition to the 1991Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq in 2004 gained him much supportamong Muslims."

"The pope was a great inspiration to all believers," said councilChairman Abdul Malik Mujahid.