RSS chief criticizes new Pope, calls him ‘hardliner’

New Delhi – RSS supreme KS Sudarshan has lambasted the new Pope, Benedict XVI, accusing him of being a ‘hardliner’ who has little respect for the multiplicity of faiths.

Speaking at a function in New Delhi, the RSS chief said that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, during the millennium peace summit in 2000, was one of the few religious leaders who were intolerant of other religions.

Except for Roman Catholic religion, Cardinal Ratzinger had little respect for other religions and believed that “the followers of non–Christian religion will not get salvation because they do not consider Jesus Christ to bethe only son of God,” said Sudarshan.

“He also said that there are several shortcomings in non–Catholic religions because they do not consider the Pope to be their leader," he added.