Thursday, November 29, 2007

Pope Invites "Senior Muslims" To Vatican Meeting


The Pope wants to meet with Muslims who sent him a letter calling for better dialogue between religions. From Breitbart:


The pope praised the "positive spirit" behind the October 11 message signed by 138 top Muslims from around the world and sent to Christian leaders, said Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone in the letter sent in Pope Benedict's name.

The pope wanted to meet a representative group of the signatories at the Vatican, he added in the letter sent to Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, head of the Institute for Islamic Thought in Amman.

"The Pope has asked me to convey his gratitude to Your Royal Highness and to all who signed the letter," Bertone wrote.

"He also wishes to express his deep appreciation for this gesture, for the positive spirit which inspired the text and for the call for a common commitment to promoting peace in the world.

"Without ignoring or downplaying our differences as Christians and Muslims, we can and therefore should look to what unites us, namely, belief in the one God, the provident Creator and universal Judge who at the end of time will deal with each person according to his or her actions. We are all called to commit ourselves totally to him and to obey his sacred will."

The letter said the pope "was particularly impressed by the attention given in the letter to the twofold commandment to love God and one's neighbour."

It recalled Pope Benedict's statement in August 2005 soon after he took office that "we must not yield to the negative pressures in our midst, but must affirm the values of mutual respect, solidarity and peace.

"The life of every human being is sacred, both for Christians and for Muslims. There is plenty of scope for us to act together in the service of fundamental moral values."

"Such common ground allows us to base dialogue on effective respect for the dignity of every human person, on objective knowledge of the religion of the other, on the sharing of religious experience and, finally, on common commitment to promoting mutual respect and acceptance among the younger generation," the letter went on.

"The Pope is confident that, once this is achieved, it will be possible to cooperate in a productive way in the areas of culture and society, and for the promotion of justice and peace in society and throughout the world."

Bertone said that with a view to encouraging the "praiseworthy initiative" from the Muslim leaders, "His Holiness would be most willing to receive Your Royal Highness and a restricted group of signatories of the open letter, chosen by you.

"At the same time, a working meeting could be organized between your delegation and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, with the cooperation of some specialized Pontifical Institutes (such as the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies and the Pontifical Gregorian University)."

The precise details of these meetings could be decided later, should this proposal prove acceptable, the letter said.


Hey, the CVF is meeting with the Vlaams Belang who say they are no longer a party peopled by racists. George Bush is meeting with Palestinians who say they want peace. The Pope is meeting with Muslims who say they want dialogue.

Everyone is meeting everyone else.

Things are really looking up.

Excuse me now, I'm gonna go meet with my shrink.

You can read the letter from the Muslims who, apparently, want peace by clicking here.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can you hear the fanfares on the background, welcoming and lauding the forthcoming everlasting peace for generations to come?

Oh..no..wait, it's the last radio in Saudi Arabia playing "Dream On" by Aerosmith...but soon the local gooks will come and smash it.

Pastorius said...

My shrink told me to keep reciting the Serenity Prayer while the world goes up in flames.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps we ought to pack our bags and just piss right off to Mars?

It will be an option by 2025, I kid you not.

And oh, before we leave, may I add IBA to my blogroll? :))

Pastorius said...

Mars? Why not? Vegas sucks, but I go there once in awhile.

Please do add us to your blogroll.

nanc said...

it is part and parcel of the movement to "ecumenism" or "one world church" - anytime "interfaith dialogue" is cited, you may be sure the enemy is behind it.

izlam has NOTHING in common with mainline christianity/catholicism or judaism - NOTHING. the yeast (sin) has worked it's way through this batch of bread.

the pope is nutz, but then i've heard he's to be the leader of this UMBRELLA church, so i imagine that makes him shine in the eyes of men.

G-d help him and catholics everywhere who buy into this - martin luther didn't go the route he did because everything was well in his house.

hell, meet handbasket.

nanc said...

not to worry though, those pesky sobaps have lost their collective mind also!

KG said...

If the Catholic Church can't/won't stand up to these nutters then I'm going to have to rethink my support for it.
I'm not a Catholic, not even a Christian in the accepted sense, but I thought the Church was a vital ally in this fight. Perhaps not.

Anonymous said...

I think that the leadership of the Church in North America knows very well what's behind that letter.

Even if we assume that the attempt of the Muslims to reach out to Christians is genuine (and it looks like it), the text of their letter and their entire attitude is completely offensive.

The problem lies not even within those who wrote that letter, but within the faith and ideology they are enslaved by - Islam.

Pastorius said...

The Pope seems to believe in dialogue more than he believes in doing good.

Of course, I just a little old naysayer sitting on the sideline.

And, my naysaying mind is telling me this is going to do no good. The Pope has high hopes though.

The stupid thing is everytime we "dialogue" with people like this, we only grant them more legitimacy.

Pastorius said...

Vadim's point is a good one, in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Pastorius.

What I wanted to add to this is that I do believe these Muslim leaders want peace and co-existence...on their own terms. Doesn't Bin Laden want the same?

Pastorius said...

Peace means never having to say you're sorry you killed the Jews.

Pastorius said...

I hope it's obvious that that is meant to convey the sentiments of Nazis like Hitler and Bin Laden.

Epaminondas said...

Meet this

or should that be spelled 'meat'