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Muslim Leads Hope Pope Francis Sparks Interfaith Dialogue

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Pope Francis has inspired excitement not only among the Roman Catholic community, but also the Islamic community, because of the pope's outreach.

As 1010 WINS' Gary Baumgarten reported, Omar Ranginwala, New York chapter president of the Islamic Circle, said he hopes Pope Francis' outreach leads to an important dialogue between the faiths.

Muslim Leads Hope Pope Francis Sparks Interfaith Dialogue

"We're hoping that we can, going forward, we can look at more social issues together and discuss them," Ranginwala said.

Ranginwala said he is optimistic that local Catholic and Islamic leaders, as well as laypeople, will embrace the pope's call.

During a Holy Thursday ritual, Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 inmates at a juvenile detention center outside Rome. Among them were two girls – an Italian Catholic and a Serbian Muslim – and one of the boys was also a Muslim.

Traditionalists have complained that since the foot-washing ritual intended to reenact Jesus' washing of his 12 disciples, only men should be involved. They have also objected to the inclusion of Muslims.

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