Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Francis Signs Unprecedented Document With Sunni Imam

Pope Francis ends his historic visit to Arabia with a Mass - The joint statement was so explosive for Arab relations that their publication was not announced in advance -

correspondent report by Roland Juchem

Abu Dhabi (kath.net/KAP) 120,000 participants from 100 nations, including 4,000 Muslims: The Mass that Pope Francis celebrated on Tuesday morning in Abu Dhabi's stadium is the practical side of what he shared with the Grand Emam, Ahmad Ap-Tayyeb, of Cairo’s  Al-Azhar Mosque the night before, in a landmark document on "Human Brotherhood:” brotherhood, plurality, and lived faith in the peaceful coexistence of one Creator's children.

This religious document has enormous political significance, especially in this part of the world. As clearly as the Grand Imam and the Pope promote freedom of religion, women's rights and sustainability as clearly as they condemn violence and extremism in the name of God, but also anti-religious secularism and amoral individualism, not every ruler or traditionalist preacher wants to hear that, but not only in the Middle East.


The United Arab Emirates (UAE) pretend to be patrons and protectors of tolerance and dialogue - also in contrast to their big neighbor Saudi Arabia. The Emirates not only provided the Zayed sports stadium for the Pope's Mass free of charge. No expense or effort was spared for the two-day interfaith conference on "Human Fraternity," and it was a major buzzword for what was said to be "historic gatherings of the world's two most important religious leaders."

"Brother and good friend" is what Francis and al-Tayyeb call each other. The Egyptian has hardly left the pope's side in the past two days. It is their fifth encounter. In his speech, al-Tayyeb calls for Christians to have full citizenship rights in the region. He receives applause just as much as for his criticism of Western caricatures of Muslims.

The Pope, in his subsequent speech, sharply criticizes the war and arms race in the region, but praises the Emirates for granting freedom of worship. However, according to Francis, true freedom of religion is "not limited to the free exercise of religion, but sees in the other one really a brother and a sister ... of the same humanity to whom God grants freedom."

On the evening of the first day, both will receive the Human Fraternity Award, given by Abu Dhabi's ruling family, the Zayed Dynasty. While gentle music and incense flow through the small arena in front of the founder's monument and rain down confetti, the head of the Catholic Church and the head of the main teaching authority of Sunni Islam, sign their joint statement.

This is so explosive - at least in this region - that its publication was not announced in advance. Its signing was not to be jeopardized by any political interference. Together, as well as in each of their denominations, Pope and Grand Imam want to promote peace, dialogue, tolerance and genuine piety, counteract any instrumentalization of religion for hatred and violence, and advocate equal rights for all.

"A justice that applies only to family members, compatriots, and believers of the same faith is a hobbled righteousness that is veiled injustice," the Pope had warned in his speech on Monday night. Even in the tolerant emirates, non-Muslims enjoy worship, but not religious freedom. Every believer is allowed to practice his religion, many in official churches and temples, others - for lack of space - in rented hotel meeting rooms.

Mission and pastoral care among the "others" are prohibited. For Muslims who turn their backs on religion, the death penalty is officially still in force. "You have achieved a lot which is praiseworthy - but all this can be improved," could be summed up with the polite, but certain estimation by the esteemed guest. 

On Monday, when interfaith dialogue took place, Tuesday morning was for Christians in the Middle East. At the Mass with tens of thousands of people in the stadium and tens of thousands more before, Francis gave consolation to the Christians in Arabia, who come from more than 100 different ethnic groups and countries living far from their homeland. He encouraged them and thanked them for living their faith as described in the document signed the day before.

This also corresponds to the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount, the Pope said in his sermon - unlike the standards of this world, according to which the rich, powerful and successful are blessed and cheered by the masses. He calls for "serving rather than being served". That sounds a bit different to the tens of thousands of people from abroad who are workers and servants in Arabia and are confronted everywhere with the large, theatrical images of powerful local emirs.

With the largest Christian worship on Arab soil to date, Christians in the Islamic world have been brought to the light of the global public. With the declaration signed by Francis and al-Tayyeb, the Catholic Church and the highest teaching authority of Sunni Islam have set a milestone behind which Christians and Muslims can not easily recede.

Video of the Mass in Abu Dhabi




AMDG

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

So long as the penalty for conversion is death, and so long as there is such oppression of Christians in the Muslim world, especially in the Arabia of the Wahabbite al-Saud family, it is grotesque to coddle any of these two-faced Imams. Tayyeb is simply engaging in the long-standing Muslim practice of Taqiiya - saying one thing to gullible Westerners, while saying another to his followers and other Muslims.

James Joseph said...

In practice it could be a method to fish out crypto Muslims who are actually Catholic. I suspect free lunches. But then again the middle eastern countries are waning economically. Time will tell.

Anonymous said...

Antipope Bergoglio is intentionally destroying the RCC. His statements are all meticulously designed to foster the plan of Antichrist. Not being satisfied with non-Christianity this time, he's promoting pantheism and atheism. American Catholics are fleeing the RCC by the millions. It is simply too embarassing to be a member.

gm said...

More than Islam, the greater threat to Western Civilization, defined as Christendom, is the Popes operational Enlightenment philosophy, all expressing a weltangschuung of Globalism, Transnationalism, Marxism, and Modernism.

Catholic Mission said...

In Heaven there are only Catholics for Diane Montagna and Fr. John Zuhlsdorf ?

Diane Montagna says Islam and other religions are not paths to salvation (Dominus Iesus) and I agree with her but is she willing to say that in Heaven there are only Catholics and outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation ?
Not likely.
Since she would be confused by Ad Gentes 7 ( invincible ignorance) which she has quoted. 1.
It is the same with Fr. John Zuhlsdorf cited in her report on LifeSitesNews.
They both look at invincible ignorance in isolation as if it is a known person saved outside the Church.She calls it ' a possibility' but for her it would be someone concrete, real and known this year or over the last years.This is her mistake.
There is no one as such known this year, last year or over the last 100 years.
So why mention invincible ignorance with reference to all needing to enter the Church for salvation(Dominus Iesus).
This is a zero case. It does not exist.There is no such person saved in invincible ignorance whom we can know. Zero. Nada. Zilch.
So all need faith and baptism for salvation (AG 7, LG 14) and in Heaven there are only Catholics.
-Lionel Andrades



1
FEBRUARY 6, 2019
Diane Montagna does not qualify if invincible ignorance is an exception to Ad Gentes 7 saying all need faith and baptism for salvation
https://eucharistandmission.blogspot.com/2019/02/diane-montagna-does-not-qualify-if.html

Catholic Mission said...

No cardinal or bishop supports the St. Benedict Center. No one is saying that unknown cases of invincible ignorance cannot be objective exceptions to the strict interpretation of the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus

When Diane Montagna refers to the possibility of being saved in invincible ignorance she means it in a general abstract way only.Since it can only be general and abstract for me.It cannot be a concrete, known case.There is no known Muslim saved outside the Catholic Church.
Similarly it could be said that there are no cases of non Catholics saved in invincible ignorance.There were none this year and none last year. This too is a possibility.
So just referring to a possibility is meaningless since in this case it can only be known to God.
She could have said that all non Catholics need to enter the Church as members with faith and baptism for salvation and there are no exceptions of being saved in invincible ignorance, or the baptism of desire or baptism of blood without the baptism of water.She would be saying all need to enter the Church based on the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus and Vatican Council II, with 'the red not an exception to the blue'.
This would be thinking rationally.
But if she did say this she would be implying that outside the Church there is no known salvation and there are only Catholics in Heaven.
This is the theological and doctrinal position of the St. Benedict Center,New Hampshire, USA.For them according to Vatican Council II ( with the red not being an exception to the blue), all Muslims and other non Catholics with no exceptions are oriented to Hell unless they convert into the Catholic Church.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith(CDF) and the Diocese of Manchester have told Brother Andre Marie MICM the Prior of the St Benedict Center, that he and the other members of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, cannot legally be called Catholic.
So Fr. Zuhlsdorf whom Diane Montagne has quoted in her LifesitesNews report, prudently says that invisible and unknown cases of invincible ignorance, the baptism of desire and the baptism of blood, are objective exceptions to all needing to be Catholic, to avoid Hell.Possibilites here real people in the present times, for him too.
There is no cardinal or bishop supporting the St. Benedict Center. No one is saying that invincible ignorance is not an exception to the strict interpretation of the dogma EENS. They do not want to be called Feeneyite and so they appease the Left on Islam.-Lionel Andrades