DHAKA: Pope Francis prayed silently alongside a senior Islamic cleric in Istanbul’s Blue Mosque on Saturday, in a gesture of inter-religious harmony in a country bordering the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

Pope Francis took off his shoes as he entered the huge mosque, before bowing his head in prayer for several minutes, facing Mecca and standing next to Istanbul’s Grand Mufti Rahmi Yaran, in what a Vatican spokesman described as a joint ‘moment of silent adoration’ of God.

A similar act by his predecessor Pope Benedict in 2006 drew criticism from conservative Catholics and some Muslims.

Several hundred people, many of them tourists, watched from behind police barriers as the Pope then walked to the nearby Aya Sofya museum, once the Christian church Hagia Sophia, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 2051 HRS, NOV 29, 2014