Do Jews and Muslims Decide the Conditions for the Recognition of the SSPX?

(Rome) The news platform Vatican Insider  has allowed the American Jewish Comittee (AJC) to say, "what is negotiable and what is not" on the way to "the Reconciliation of the Lefebvrians with the Catholic Church". The "conditions" are significantly different from those named by he who is in charge of the talks, Curial Archbishop Guido Pozzo.

The article, signed by Lisa Palmieri-Billig, the "representative of the American Jewish Comittee to the Holy See," was published on 28 July. The American Jewish Comittee and Islam representative, Yahya Pallavicini, explained the conditions under which the Catholic Church could recognize the Society of St. Pius X.

The ecumenical [diabolical?] intervention was provoked by an interview by Curia Archbishop Guido Pozzo included in Christ und Welt (issue 32/2016). Archbishop Pozzo is officially entrusted with the talks with the SSPX as secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei.

If the Vatican will "sacrifice" Conciliar Documents for SSPX?

The author summarizes what is clear from the interview that the "Society is no longer excommunicated, but has not yet been reintegrated canonically, and despite some initial concessions, continues to reject some important documents of Vatican II."  This raises  "more questions", say Palmieri-Billig. The "obvious", but so far unasked questions are:

"On what specific points is the Vatican willing to compromise?" And "If the Vatican is prepared to sacrifice the authoritative nature of some documents of the Second Vatican Council, which - although not a dogma - have become valuable tools for Interreligious Dialogue"

American Jewish Comittee

Two key areas are in play. The first area concerns the "Pope Francis' very strong desire for pastoral unity within the church and for reconciliation of theological breakthroughs." This precludes the second region, namely "the important impact on the future of basic documents of the Second Vatican Council". Palmieri-Billig explicitly names the document Nostra Aetate , particularly "the relationship of the Catholic Church and the Jewish people", and Dignitatis Humanae on religious freedom.

The authors complained in the statements about  Archbishop Guido Pozzo's "complete absence of any reference" to the historical roots of these documents of Vatican II and "thus the reasons why  John XXIII., Paul VI. and the Council Fathers felt it was important." Specifically,  Palmieri-Billig referred to  "Paragraph 4 of Nostra Aetate on relations between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people". This "omission" was all the more serious because of the "seemingly entrenched theological anti-Semitism" of the SSPX.

"Distorted indoctrination" and "ingrained theological anti-Semitism"

The representative of the American Jewish Comittee  then insists that Nostra Aetate of John XXIII. was intended finally to "extinguish the distorted indoctrination" of the charges of "deicide", an accusation that "had already been declared false and absurd by  the Council of Trent." The "need for this decision" by John XXIII. was beause he had "become aware through an encounter with Jules Isaac, a survivor of the Holocaust" where Isaac had convinced the pope from the fact that "this rhetoric circulating in Europe had created a suitable environment for the development of wild anti-Semitic stereotypes, which in turn fueled the hatred that made ​​the Shoah possible."

AJC demands conditions for the canonical recognition of the SSPX

Then the American Jewish Commitee comes to the point: If the SSPX can be canonically recognized "before" talks "about the validity" of Nostra Aetate found a "satisfactory solution", it "would create serious questions".

Palmieri-Billig  extensively cites Chief Rabbi David Rosen, the international director of the American Jewish Comittee for interreligious relations with the words:

"I have every confidence in the declaration of Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, who explained that the adoption of Nostra Aetate as a binding document by the SSPX, is a necessary step to ensure that the members of the Society may be formally recognized by the Holy See; and I can not believe that Pope Francis could accept less than that. In addition, I hope that the Holy See, regarding Judaism and the Jewish people, insists in the addition to recognition of the teaching of the Magisterium, on the denial of anti-Semitism that was part of the culture of the SSPX. It was not just about Bishop 'Williamson and a couple other people: The website of the organization has been full of anti-Jewish rhetoric in the past. I want to hope that there is a formal recognition of the statement of Pope Francis in line with his predecessors, which states that it is impossible to be a true Christian if you have anti-Semitic opinions." [David Rosen gets to decide who's Christian.]

The Crux: SSPX or Dominus Iesus ?

Palmieri-Billig shows themselves further concerned about the differing levels of dogmatic binding, which is applied to the various conciliar documents, as Archbishop Curia Pozzo explained in his interview. Pozzo appealed to the will of the Council Fathers on this issue. On November 18, 1964, the secretary for Christian Unity on Nostra Aetate explained that his secretariat had no intention of adopting dogmatic declarations about non-Christian religions but only practical and pastoral norms, which is why Nostra Aetate has no dogmatic commitment. It is therefore, says Archbishop Curia Pozzo, not possible to ask someone, to recognize this document as "binding."

Imam Yahya Pallavicini

The American Jewish Comittee representatives were also offended at the finding of Archbishop Pozzo, that any interpretation of Nostra Aetate, must include the Declaration Dominus Iesus , on the unicity and salvific universality of Jesus Christ and the Church 2000, which is "without foundation and should therefore be rejected." The Secretary of Ecclesia Dei warned explicitly in this context against a false  interpretation of the "Spirit of Assisi".

Palmieri-Billig represented the statements of Imam Yahya Pallavicini, vice-president of the Italian Islamic Religious Community (COREIS) to the contrary, who is considered to be the "internationally recognized representative of a temperate 'traditional Islam'." Pallavicini had in turn warned the Vatican:

"The international Islamic community follows closely the development of this convergence process of the SSPX for reintegration into the Catholic Church. It is about the sensitivity to find a coherence regarding the pastoral implications of the outcome of the Council and of the document Nostra Aetate. While Pope Francis and the Catholic Church, together with the spiritual authorities of many other religious denominations, celebrate the prophetic value of this Council that initiated the historical cycle of 50 intense years of inter-religious and ecumenical dialogue on providential way, the SSPX appears to downplay at least the  this path and this orientation  to maintain a traditionalist interpretation that actually denies the spiritual need of respect and fellowship with believers and other confessions believing in a God. In a moment of dramatic international crisis in which the manipulation of religion becomes a hostage of some fundamentalist groups, there seems to arise a claim of 'legitimate violence' against Muslims, Christians and Jews, concerns us and the anachronism and the lack of sensitivity of movements that the Society even wants to force the Church  or  to teach a different hierarchy of values, than   the Council and obedience to the saints and the popes."

"Vilification and delegitimization of the 'Aggiornamento'- John XXIII's Will."

Although the AJC representative noted that Society, representing 70 countrieswith 750Mass locations  in the "enormous Catholic world" has only a "relatively small influence" ... "but nothing that happens in this world without effect". Concessions to the SSPX "could easily" lead to a "return of the old prejudices" against other confessions and to "transform to the militant conviction of possessing the only true way to God".

Pallavicini has already been received several times by Pope Francis in the past three years

That would be a further step towards the "insulting and delegitimization of the burning desire of John XXIII. according to the 'aggiornamento' of the Catholic Church and to return to the pseudo-religious, anti-Semitic stereotypes that  provoked immense suffering of many centuries and ultimately led to the diabolical persecutions and genocides of the 20th century. "

After the authors  thundered against SSPX , using the Antisemitism club, they praised "the deeply meaningful silence" of Pope Francis in Auschwitz as "deafening".

Director of Vatican Insider, the papal house vaticanist  Andrea Tornielli,  explains why his articles and products published by his platform are of particular attention. This also applies to this article by the AJC representatives to the Holy See, where Tornielli allows Jews and Muslims to designate the conditions about which the Holy See should conduct a canonical recognition of the SSPX. Vice versa this means: Should these conditions not be met, it would open up "serious questions". It's a statement in the article of the American Jewish Comittee that someone could read as a threat. Anyway,  Tornielli offered the American Jewish Comittee and the Islamic Religious Council the opportunity to be the warning sign for the Vatican.  It's an "unusual procedure", because they revolve "around internal Church matters" which are also to be clarified within the Church. It's an "interference" from the outside which must be "considerations rejected in principle" ipso facto, so Messa in Latino .

It is also dubious indeed that the American Jewish Comittee and the Islamic Religious Council  are pulling  together, to warn the Catholic Church of a "return" to their traditional claim that it was entrusted by Jesus Christ as the "only way to salvation."

Lisa Palmieri-Billig and Yahya Pallavicini

Lisa Palmieri-Billig was born in Vienna. With her ​​Jewish family, she emigrated in 1938 as a small child to New York. During the Second Vatican Council, she worked in the Roman branch of the World Jewish Congress (WJC). She was 25 years, Deputy Chairman of the European section of the World Conference of Religions for Peace, based in New York, founded in 1961 and is today Chairman of the Italian section of this organization. Since 2005, she is the Jewish Vatican expert AJC representative  in Italy and the Holy See.

Yahya Pallavicini, born in 1965, is the Imam al-Wahid Mosque of Milan. His mother is Japanese, his father, Felice Pallavicini is from Milan, descendant of a branch of a famous Italian noble family [With strong Masonic connections, fighting against the Church in the 1860s], converted in 1951 at the age of 25 years in Lausanne to Islam. He prefers to speak of a "convergence" and "realignment". Since then, he calls himself Abd al-Wahid and has traveled 30 years in the Islamic world, where he was in Istanbul, Jerusalem and finally introduced in Singapore to Islamic Sufism. In 1980, he himself became a Sheikh (Master) and as such, head of the Sufi brotherhood, Ahamadiyyah Idrissiyyah Shadhiliyyah in Europe. Abd al-Wahid Pallavicini represents a syncretic religious view that all religions lead to "a god". In a chronological sequence have revealed this, the Hinduism, according to Pallavicini, the first link in this  chain of revelation that leads to  the three monotheistic "Abrahamic" religions, whose perfection is Islam.
In 1986 he took part in the  very controversial Assisi Meeting for Peace as the Islam representative, which was organized by the Community Sant'Egidi  with the participation of Pope John Paul II.. His son was counted among the 500 most influential Muslims in the world of 2009. In 1998 father and son negotiated as Islamic representatives for the recognition of the Islamic religious community by the Republic of Italy. In 2000 he created the organization called the Islamic Religious Community (COREIS). He is a member of the State Islamic Council of the Italian Ministry of Interior.

Both are part of the elite interreligious establishment.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: SSPX / ajc / coreis (screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches....
AMDG

Pope Wants Common Celebration of the Eucharist With the Orthodox

Meeting in Rome for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul with Constantinople Delegation - Thanks to Metropolitan Zizioulas, because he had come together with other church representatives for the presentation of the Eco-Encyclical "Laudato si"

Vatican City (kath.net/KAP) Pope Francis has recently has emphasized that a common celebration of the Eucharist is a common goal of ecumenical dialogue at a meeting with an official delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, headed by the retired Titular Metropoliten of Pergamon, Ioannis Zizioulas. This goal is one of his main concerns, Francis stressed at the meeting with the delegation from Constantinople that - as it happens on every year for the last 47 years, come to the feast of Saints Peter and Paul on 29 June, the Patron Saint of the Church of Rome, to the Tiber.

Pope Francis said that the meetings with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Andreas Festival last November has provided the opportunity to "work together to praise God and to pray that soon the day will come when the full visible unity between Orthodox and Catholics will be restored." He expressly thanked Metropolitan Zizioulas that he had come to Rome on behalf of Patriarch Bartholomew to be present together with other Church representatives at the public presentation of the encyclical "Laudato si". It was the first time that a papal encyclical was also presented by an orthodox bishop.

The opportunities to meet, exchange and experience cooperation between Catholics and Orthodox should multiply, such is the view expressed in the Pope's expectations. Through mutual understanding and respect many prejudices and misunderstandings could be overcome. At the same time the remaining difficulties should, "in truth, but in a spirit of fraternity", be overcome.

In this context, Francis praised the "valuable work of the International Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox Church." The "Drafting Committee" of this Commission had met on Thursday in Rome. The problems that come up on the train of theological dialogue, should not lead to discouragement and resignation, the Pope said. He specifically stressed that a "careful study" on the principle of synodality and on the "service of the principals in love" will deliver a "significant contribution to the advancement of relations" between the two Churches.

The Pope prays for Pan-Orthodox Synod

Pope Francis promised his intense prayer and of all Catholics for the success of the scheduled 2016 Pan-Orthodox Synod in Constantinople. At the same time the Pope asked his Orthodox guests for prayers for the upcoming October Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Synod of Bishops, which will be devoted to family.

Metropolitan Zizioulas gave the pope when a message of the Ecumenical Patriarch, in which Bartholomew I stressed the significance of theological dialogue and the work of the International Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue. Three Catholic and Orthodox members consisting of a "Drafting Committee" of the International Commission for Theological Dialogue, are editing a document on Thursday in Rome foreseen to be completed for September, "Towards the Understanding of Synodality and Primacy in the Church of the First Millenium." Orthodox representatives had expressed reservations about the draft in Amman. The "Drafting Committee" now had the task of taking into account the objections of the Orthodox side. The revised draft is to be submitted in September the "Coordinating Committee" of the International Commission for Theological Dialogue, which then decides on further procedure. Among the participants of the meeting of the "Drafting Commitee" in the preceding week alongside Zizioulas, was also the head of the Foreign Ministry of Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev. He met the same day with the Italian President Sergio Mattarella, which involved a longer conversation. The meeting was also attended by the Russian ambassador in Rome, Sergei Razov, in part.

Metropolitan Hilarion stressed that he was representing the Russian Orthodox Church toward making "good and constructive" relations with Italy, a "country with deep Christian roots", a priority. President Mattarella paid tribute to the Moscow Patriarchate in the ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue. He was convinced that the Orthodox Church could also make a significant contribution for a "peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine." Copyright 2015 Catholic press agency Kathpress, Vienna, Austria

You can compare this report to the one at the Vatican website. Did they even experience the same event?

Link to Kath.net...
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
NB: this is kind of a quick job, but being as busy as we are, it is what it is.  We try to flesh out things that are missed by others that is of interest.  We've found Kath.net, NeoCatholic though it is, to be a great source of information and a window on the Catholic Church in Europe that is otherwise missing.  It's nice to know that there are Catholics like you in the world who love Jesus and His Immemorial Mass just like you do, or even just Catholics, trying to be a light to the world. Would that we had more time, for there is much that we also miss.

AMDG

The Pope in Sarajevo -- Strengthen Brotherhood --- Inter-religious Dialogue

(Rome) "I come to Sarajevo to strengthen Catholics in their faith and to support inter-religious dialogue and peaceful coexistence." Pope Francis said this in a video message ahead of his pastoral visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will take place this coming June 6 .. As Vatican spokesman Father Lombardi said, the visit has no connection with the alleged Marian apparitions in Herzegovinian Medjugorje. The Pope will not take a position on the Medjugorje phenomenon in Sarajevo  so Lombardi.

Catholics ought to "be witnesses of faith and love of God". For this, the Catholic Church leader wants to support  inter-religious dialogue between Christians and Muslims and to "encourage"  peaceful coexistence.These are the goals that     Pope Francis has named for his Sarajevo visit. The video message was published in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The motto of the Pope's visit is "Peace be With You". The Pope called on Catholics to unite with him in prayer, so that the visit "will bring the expected fruits for the Church and society as a whole."

"For my part, I prepare to come to you as a brother, as a messenger of peace to all of you - all! - To express my appreciation and my friendship. I want every person, every family, every community to preach the mercy, the tenderness and the love of God."

Pope Francis is to visit the Bosnian city of Sarajevo on Saturday, June 6. It is the seat of government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country which is divided into two sub-states since 1995. The division is a result of ethnic-religious war between 1991 and 1995, which broke out with the collapse of communist Yugoslavia. Another consequence is that the Croat-Muslim Federation, founded in 1994 in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Orthodox Serb Republic (Republika Srpska) were forced by the international community against their will into a common state. The Catholic-Croat and the Muslim-Bosniak population were forced into an unloved federation.

Pope Francis is to visit this Catholic-Muslim defacto EU protectorate. The highest political authority and therefore the actual decision-makers is the "High Representative" of the UN. It was established and carried out by the EU, USA and Russia. Since 2009  an Austrian diplomat, a   Carinthian Slovene Valentin Inzko, has held this office.

The Catholic Croats have repeatedly initiated complaints that they have been treated less favorably than the Bosniaks (see The ignoring discrimination against Catholic Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina German). The ethnic-religious divide in the Federation is about 70 percent Bosniaks and 30 percent Croats with a tendential shift in favor of Bosniaks. Among these it is found, according to observers since the Civil War, a considerable re-Islamization instead. Both Turkey and Saudi Arabia are trying through the construction of mosques, to win the establishment of madrassas and assistance toward influence among these European Muslims (see Islamization of Bosnia - Turkey Tries to Establish pro-Turkish Lobbyists  German).

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: RotW
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

The Church is "Condemned" to Religious Dialogue

Edit: no comment.

Cardinal Tauran: Religious illiteracy is worrying.

Frankfurt (kaqth.net/ KNA) The President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue sees the Catholic Church, particularly in view of the flight of Christians from the Middle East called to a dialogue with the Islamic world. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran has stressed that religion is not the cause of conflict, but could contribute to its solution. Accordingly, the church is "condemned" to dialogue. Tauran spoke at the inauguration of the new endowed chair "Catholic theology in the face of Islam" at the Faculty of Philosophy and Theology Sankt Georgen on Friday evening.

"Interreligious dialogue always starts with the fact that one introduces his own religious beliefs," said Tauran. But currently "religious illiteracy" in the West has reached worrying proportions. "It is important for European societies that they will find their religious and cultural roots," said Tauran. Otherwise, the younger generations will be without a heritage to bequeath.

In addition, the West finds itself in a "crisis of information". The constant mobility and overfeeding with information leads to the fact that "no one reads any longer, doesn't think and is unable to organize his knowledge," said the cardinal. Inter-religious dialogue establishes, among other things, the will to do "everything humanly possible" to understand the perspective of the other. Muslims and Christians are, according Tauran, encouraged to develop a "pedagogy of living together", resulting in changing the fear of the other in a fear for the other. Religious leaders also have a duty to their followers to suggest a civic responsibility so that no one is indifferent to injustice.


Kath.net... 

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Meanwhile, somewhere in America.

AMGD

Rabbi Skorka: Pope Francis and Judaism -- “We Dreamt, We Embraced in Front of the Wailing Wall"

(Buenos Aires / Jerusalem) Will Pope Francis meet the “mother of his personal faith" in Judaism?  That, at least is what   his Argentine friend Rabbi Abraham Skorka in an interview with the Jesuit magazine Civilta Cattolica. Pope Francis arrives in a few days with a colorful entourage to the Holy Land.

The Catholic Church leader is not only accompanied, as usual, by cardinals and bishops of the Catholic Church, but this time also the honorary chairman of the Orthodox Churches, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople,   Bartholomew I. However, the most importantly will be  a personal friend of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Argentine Rabbi Abraham Skorka. The Vatican soon made ​​aware of a risk. The very obvious presence of a Jewish representative in the entourage of the Pope, who has   direct access to the Pope, boasting numerous interviews, could trigger irritation in the Muslim world in the Middle East.   Above all, the Muslim Palestinians could feel resentment . So there was a search  for an additional, Muslim travel companion. It is Omar Abboud, who will be the  representative of the Islamic community in Argentina. Abboud is a former Secretary General of the Islamic Center of Argentina .

Two Argentine Friends: Rabbi Skorka and the Muslim Representative Abboud

Vatican spokesman Father Lombardi said the Pope was accompanied by a Jewish and a Muslim agent with whom he is already in “a friendly dialogue” in Argentina .  In fact, Archbishop Bergoglio, Rabbi Skorka and Abboud took part as head of the Islamic Centre in the last ten years prior, as  the Pope's choice in numerous joint events part that stood as a  sign of inter-religious dialogue and were largely initiated by Cardinal Bergoglio.

Skorka About Francis: “We Dreamed of Embracing Before the Wailing Wall"

While Abboud was invited in April to come along on the trip has so far refrained from publicity, Rabbi Skorka has engaged in intense media activism since the election of Pope Francis.  In his recent interview for the Jesuit magazine Civilta Cattolica (Volume 3934 v. May 17, 2914: D he Pope, the Rabbi and the Holy Land ), he said: "Since the election of Francis we have met three times in Rome.”  In one of these meetings, "we began to dream of standing together in front of the Wailing Wall, embracing, to give you a sign despite the two thousand years of disagreements between Jews and Christians, and that I accompany him to Bethlehem to be close to  his mind  in such an important moment,  as a gesture of friendship and respect, to give all peoples and nations of this region an indelible sign of peace."

The interview with Rabbi Skorka led chief editor Father Antonio Spadaro, who led a now famous, but also controversial interview with Pope Francis last fall. Skorka also spoke of how Pope Francis see Judaism: "At the first meeting he said, pointing to me and pointed with his hand up: 'Our friendship and dialogue is the sign that it is'. And I added: 'You can create the path that leads to peace and the Rome and Jerusalem brings together more closely.' "

Skorka: "Bergoglio sees in Judaism the Mother of his Personal Beliefs"

In a conversation between Father Spadaro and the rabbi several names are called as witnesses for the Jewish-Christian dialogue, including the retired Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Lustiger. There are also  publications mentioned considered  by the Pope as  fundamental to the Jewish-Christian dialogue.  According Skorka prevails in Pope Francis especially "an expectation of the church to a Jewish response to the document Nostra Aetate of the Second Vatican Council, an adopted by the majority of the Jewish people manifesto, which answers the question: What does a Christian for a Jew ? "

When asked Spadaros, as Pope Francis see the Jewish religion, Skorka replied: "The many things that I have seen and experienced around Bergolio additionally prompted me to say that he sees Judaism as a mother of his faith. This is not merely an intellectual exercise, but a feeling, which is an important component in his personal faith.”   This statement is in need of explanation. according to the Catholic understanding of  pre-Christian Judaism (Israel) has risen in Christianity and found its completion. Post-Christian Judaism, however, is that Pharisaic cleavage of the original Judaism that rejects Christ as the Messiah. But what Judaism did  Skorka mean?

Pope Reads Rabbinic Writings and is Shaped by Them?

The Rabbi pointed at the same time then that "some viewpoints and findings of Bergoglio" obviously agree with rabbinical writings, which he wants to suggest that Pope Francis has read rabbinic or is reading and was influenced by them.

Other parts of the conversation related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Of this Skorka said: "I do not expect that Pope Francis will solve all problems between Palestinians and Israelis, nor all the conflicts of the Middle East and the world." The "true power of the Pope is the credibility that he  has in  his family and the understanding of this awakened in others."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Vatican Insider / Centro Interreligioso Buenos Aires

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Katholisches...http://www.katholisches.info/2014/05/17/rabbi-skorka-papst-franziskus-und-das-judentum-haben-getraeumt-uns-vor-der-klagemauer-zu-umarmen/

AMGD

Interview with Secretary of State Parolin: “With Francis, the Impression of a Besieged Church Has Changed to an Open Church"

(Caracas)  Pope Francis accepted  the resignation last Saturday of Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone and appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Venezuela, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, the new Secretary of State. On 4 August the Venezuelan newspaper published an interview with the former nuncio and future cardinal. The Vatican diplomat Archbishop Parolin is a man of few words, and those he uses, he weighs carefully, as it is expected of a diplomat. It was not easy to persuade him to be interviewed, writes Manuel Isidro Molina, the journalist of the pro-government daily newspaper Ultimas Noticias, who conducted the interview. The answers give some insight into the person, his understanding of diplomacy and thus also a preview of how he will fill the highest office of the Roman Curia behind the Pope.

It took place at the end of July at the Apostolic Nunciature in Caracas, shortly after Nicolas Maduro, the successor of Chavez   returned as Venezuelan president from visiting the Vatican with Pope Francis. The responses of the nuncio and the new Secretary of State of the Holy See took place against the background of Venezuela, which is dominated by Bolivarism,  a left national state ideology with nationalist and Marxist elements.

What has happened in the Church since last 13 March as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was chosen as the new Pope?

I think that nothing new is happening in the Church in the sense that something is new and normal.

Getting ready for renewal?

That's right, always, because the main actor in the Church is the Holy Spirit.

How do you interpret the "phenomenon" Francis?

What moves me and what I consider to be a miracle of the election of Pope Francis is the abrupt climate change, which was perceived immediately. Previously there was a pessimism entirely unjustified, as I add, because Pope Benedict XVI. has done everything humanly possible to renew the Church, if we think for example of the great commitment in the fight against pedophilia.

It seems that to have to face the pressure of pedophilia and corruption, have exhausted him ...

Yes, I suspect that too. We were focused on these issues and it seemed as if the Church were not able to renew itself: but suddenly, after this election and the first utterances of the Pope, the situation changed completely. It made a climate of hope, renewal, a broad future that previously seemed hopelessly blocked. And I really look upon as great miracle. The courage and the humility of Benedict XVI.  to take a step back, goes in the same direction as the courage and the humility of Pope Francis to accept the papacy, and the new wind that he has brought.

What impressed you most in the pontificate of St. Francis?

What impresses me most is the complete change of perception that it was for the Church. From a besieged Church with a thousand problems, one might say, a little sick Church, we have moved to a Church that has opened.

He has revitalized it ...

Exactly, and now we look with great confidence in God's future. It seems to me that that's the best thing that has happened to us.

What does it mean that the Pope made his first trip to Brazil?

That's a coincidence, because it was already decided that the World Youth Day will be held in Brazil. Therefore, it fell to the Pope, any Pope to be there.

A chance also that Pope Francis has taken a decision for the poor and that Brazil was the cradle of liberation theology?

To liberation theology, and I say it with all my heart, because there has been much suffering, things are clarified.These painful, passionate years have led to clarify things. The Church, that’s right, has a preferential option for the poor.This is a decision that the Church has made on a universal level. But it has also clarified that the option for the poor nor is it an alternative option.

But preferential...

Yes, a preferential. However, this means that the Church is church for all. The church offers all the Gospel with a special attention to the poor, because they are especially loved by the Lord, because you know, you can accept the gospel only in an attitude of poverty.

The simplicity, Francis proclaimed ...

Pope Francis goes in this direction. This attention he has shown since the first moments of his pontificate, represents a fundamental option in the center of the Church, which applies to everyone, but with a special attention to the poor.

This is a reading that is true for Latin America and the Caribbean believers. Which reading there might be among the African believers?

There are differences. Liberation theology had less resonance in Africa than in Latin America.

And in Europe with the worker priests ...

Yes, of course, but not in Africa. The attention of Pope Francis for the poor is good news for Africa, which experienced conflicts and forms of inequality in different countries. I think the emphasis that sets the Pope, is also important for Africa,  for the whole area, which relates to the issue of social justice and peace, which were treated by the two synods held in the Vatican for Africa.

The issue of poverty is a human issue for the Church. For Marxists, it is also a question of class ...

The Church can not accept the Marxist categories of class struggle. One point among the various problems that existed with those who represented the liberation theology, was the use of the Marxist category of class struggle in their teaching. The Church is always aimed as a first step in the conversion of hearts and the education of human solidarity, a solidarity which not only personally enables, but structurally  overcomes the problems of society.  The Church receives an enormous treasure, namely its social doctrine.

Which measures the weight of church corruption as the cause of these problems?

The Pope has drawn attention. It is a topic that the Church, because she knows that corruption harms the character of the society and attracts many consequences for how the gennanten. It is important that we fight corruption, especially through education, which is a core area for the church. The education of the people to law-abiding, to be honest, the match between word and deed, so that people are able to reject these temptations and to build a healthy society, a positive society.

Pope Francis has inspired increased inter-religious relations, at least between the monotheistic religions ... What is true for the mixture of Latin American and Caribbean beliefs?

,The Pope has expressed ecumenical dialogue between Christians and the inter-religious dialogue in terms of its predecessors, for example, of the meeting with John Paul II in Assisi. Pope Francis is very clear: we must continue on this path.

And the mishmash of Latin American-Caribbean beliefs?

The Church follows the principle of St. Paul to take note of everything and take what is good and healthy. All that is compatible with the Gospel may be adopted.

Are there signs of a possible visit of Pope Francis in Venezuela?

I can not say. We do not know what  the intentions of the Pope will be.

President Nicolas Maduro has invited him on his visit to the Vatican ...

According to my knowledge, he has not invited him. According to yours?

He has opened him the opportunity to come ...

Yes, but a formal invitation, I think there seems to be no. The President is to have said something like the gates are open to Venezuela.

In any case, he did not tell him that they are closed ...

[Laughter] No, not that. At this moment, as far as I know there has been no formal invitation to the Pope to come to Venezuela.

Is  the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the opinion that this meeting was good?

Yes, yes.

Was there an immediate impact?

The evaluation of the meeting of Pope Francis with President Maduro was positive in terms of the dialogue that advances the Church. It was a testimony of dialogue. The Pope is always ready to welcome all.

He has proved it: with the Argentine President Cristina Kirchner there were rumored  disagreements.

The Pope received and embraced her.

He has received President Maduro, in which you claimed that there were differences ...

That's right, the Pope is open to receive all and talk to everybody. It seems to me that the meeting with President Maduro was helpful for a dialogue with the Church here in Venezuela.

An improvement in the quality?

At least, contact channels are open and  dialogue is seen as a means of solving problems.

To understand the problems?

To understand and solve problems in a peaceful, humane and Christian way.

What perception does the Church have of the social suffering that prevails due to the economic crisis in different European countries?

The Church and the Christians, as the Second Vatican Council says, is currently celebrating its 50 years, to make all the dramas of the contemporary  their own. The Church has appealed that human suffering be taken into account in solving the crisis suffered by Europe.

And what happens to the "wild capitalism” as John Paul II has criticized it?  Benedict XVI. has criticized it and Pope Francis criticizes it. Nevertheless, this direction continues to dominate Europe?

This is a worrying thing. The Church is continuing its demand that all this is corrected, so that the human is measured against  the economic, according to  ethics and morality. Man must come before the economic laws. This creates a sense of love for the poor, solidarity, a truly human economy that helps people develop and that they not be humiliated and have their dignity offended. This is a fundamental discourse for the Church, and we all have papal encyclicals from Rerum Novarum of Leo XIII. up to Caritas in Veritate of Benedict XVI.

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Don Antonio Lasierra / La cigüeña de la torre

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMGD

A Koran for Pope Bergoglio -- How the "Gulen Movement" Latched the Pope

Edit: inter-religious dialogue puts parties adverse to Catholicism in power?

Wait, there's a Calif of Cologne?  Did someone go back in time and make the Muslims win in 1483 on September 11th?

(Vatican) The Islamist Gülen Movement , always careful to emphasize their cultural side and to "hedge"  influential contacts, now also uses Pope Francis for their "self-promotion".  And the  Osservatore Romano helps. The semi-official newspaper of the Pope recalled in an article about how Bergoglio Archbishop of Buenos Aires, was given a Koran. "The election of  Pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio  is greeted by all Argentines with pride, whichever is their creed," writes the L'Osservatore . It reported  a speech by Nancy Falcon, since February 2012 Head of the Islamic Dialogo Centro Intercultural Alba of Buenos Aires, who reported publicly about "cordial relations" with Cardinal Bergoglio. Falcon, says the Osservatore Romano , "explained in a special episode" what has happened in the last year,  "during her visit  in the Archbishop's Palace. The Cardinal, who had on his desk next to a copy of the Torah and the Gospel,  received from the Director of Centro Alba a copy of the Koran."

Torah and Gospel on the desk - Korana as a Gift

A gift that "was very much appreciated" by Cardinal Bergoglio says Falcon. "Bergoglio was well informed about the work of the Centro Intercultural Dialogo Alba and asked them to pray for him, says the Osservatore Romano on  Falcon's comment. "A similar request, which he made as pope to the whole world shortly after his election," said the representative of Islam. "A humble gesture that impressed us even more than we have learned that he is our new pope," said Falcon. The 31 year old Argentine, Nancy Falcon comes from a mixed religious family: father, Catholic, and a Muslim Syrian born mother. The two daughters, Nancy and Gabriela decided to Islam.

Falcon explained  the episode during the visit, which the new Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Aurelio Mario Poli,visisted the Islamic center Alba  during Ramadan.

Who is behind the Center for Intercultural Dialogue in Buenos Aires?

What is this center and who operates it? The center is part of the movement of the Turkish-Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen. His movement, which originated in the Nurculuk Movement has represented pan-Islamic ideas and sharia as the basis of the legal system. Gülen supports the Erdogan government and is one of its most significant pioneers. The Dialogo Centro Intercultural Alba belongs to an international network of Gülen Movement , which is equivalent in Germany the Forum for Intercultural Dialogue (FID) in Berlin.

Gulen, who is presented and revered by his followers as the "Gandhi" of Islam, has created its own Light Houses for training and life models for young Muslims. Gülen, the son of an Anatolian village Imam was later then with the Caliph of Cologne who became known as Cenaleddin, was trained as chaplain at a mosque in Erzurum in eastern Anatolia. In 1999 he fled from a trial in the United States, as a power struggled raged in Turkey  between the Kemalists and the supporters of Gulen Islamic parties. Until then, he had written numerous anti-Western pamphlets on which he has since recanted.  Reason for his escape was in the announcement during a sermon to his followers. In it she pointed to Gülen:

"You must enter the arteries of the system without being noticed here. You must wait until the right moment has come to you until you have taken the entire state power. If we act rashly, the world will fall on our heads, Muslims will suffer everywhere. It would be like breaking an egg without waiting the 40 days until the chick hatches."

The powerful network of Islamic Gulen Movement

The American sociologist Helen Ebaugh estimated its  supporters in Turkey on in 2010 at about 10-15 percent of the population, plus about eight to ten million in the rest of the world. As his followers pay a tithe, Gülen has built up an extensive network of facilities and organizations. This includes having Zaman, today's highest-circulation daily newspaper in Turkey with its own European edition, as well as the television station Ebru TV and Samanyolu TV, a private news agency and the Bank Asya for financial transactions, private schools, a myriad of companies in Germany alone estimates their number in the three digits, and a great humanitarian organization that took in $ 16 million in donations in 2009.

The Turkish journalist Ahmet Sik wrote the book about Fethullah The Army of the Imam . This means that the Gülen movement as the "most powerful brotherhood" in Turkey, which has "infiltrated" the police, military and state apparatus since the 80's, to replace the nationalism of Atatürk by a re-Islamization. Sik's research has not fared well. He was charged with a fanciful accusation in court for belonging  to an ominous secret organization over which he had revealed something in his reports. This is possible because the Gülen movement is very strong in the police and judiciary. His book was banned and could be published only on the Internet.

Gulen Movement "controls trade and economy  and  has deeply infiltrated the political scene has"

Another Turkish author wrote a knockout book about the Gülen movement and he was also arrested with the accusation of belonging to a Left-wing group. The movement "is powerful and to mess with it comes at a high price," said the lawyer Fikret-Sik Ilkiz. In a diplomatic cable from the U.S. Embassy in Turkey to the State Department in Washington, it was said in 2009: The Gülen Movement is "controls trade and industry and has deeply infiltrated the political scene. At least one third of Erdogan's ruling party MPs belong to the movement, as well as the Department of Justice and the Minister of Culture, wrote the U.S. diplomat. James Jeffrey, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey from 2008 to 2010, in a report.  It is difficult to prove the infiltration of Turkish police by the Gülen movement, but we have found no one who would deny such. The Marburg Islamic scholar Ursula winder-Stegemann says about the influence of the Gülen movement : "It is the most important and dangerous Islamist movement in Germany." The Gülen movement speaks of itself as cemaat (community).

"The Army of the Imam": Alba Centro in Buenos Aires - FID in Berlin

"More than a hundred educational institutes operate in connection with cemaat: schools, tuition centers." They have established  15 'discussion clubs', such as the Forum for Intercultural Dialogue Berlin (FID). The clubs organize conferences to meet rabbis, priests and imams, they invite you to travel to Istanbul. "

This was written by Der Spiegel in August 2012 after the report on the WDR  The Silent Army of the Imam - Had broadcast on Fethullah Gulen's network. Despite the intense, dutiful preoccupationn with Islam,  Germans hardly know anything about the Gülen movement, although this is largely representative of the Turks in Germany and Austria toward the Erdogan government. This is probably also responsible for ensuring that a number of high-ranking German politicians are involved in the cultural associations of the movement. This protects it. In the Member of Advisory Board, for example, the former president of the Bundestag and unsuitable Catholic in name only, Rita Süßmuth (CDU), a native of Iran Member of Parliament and security spokesman Omid Nouripour (Green) and the last GDR Foreign Minister, Markus Meckel (SPD).  At FID events, the former Senator of Berlin, Ehrhart Körting and the President of the Berlin House of Representatives Walter Momper (SPD), the Minister of Justice, and Minister for Integration Jörg-Uwe (Hessian State Chairman of the FDP) ,  the particularly Islam-friendly chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag and former CDU General Secretary Ruprecht Polenz (CDU) and many others have taken a  prominent part in politics, religion, culture and science.

As in Berlin, they seek all cultural offices in Buenos Aires to make influential contacts. This is more recently from the Gülen  Movement, in which Nancy Falcon has given  Pope Francis a Koran and makes this episode public. Not only is the Italian edition of L'Osservatore Roman of help, but also the German editors of Radio Vatican, from which the message was distributed last Saturday.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Vatican Insider

Translation Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMGD

Cardinal Barbarin Prays in the Grand Mosque of Lyon

(Lyon) The Archbishop of Lyon, Philippe Cardinal Barbarin visited the Grand Mosque of Lyon and prayed here for the release of a seven member French family, which has been abducted in Cameroon and are being held as hostages.  “Will Allah hear the prayers more than our Lord Jesus Christ?” asked the French internet site Riposte Catholique.

Kamel Kabtane, the director of the Grand Mosque of Lyon posted on his web site with “Cardinal Barbarin, Primate of France, visited on the 21st of February 2013 in the afternoon, the Grand Mosque of Lyon to pray with the Moslem community for seven French hostages, among whom are four children.  The prayer too place in the presence of a large public.  Following the recitation by the Rector of the Grand Mosque, Kamel Kabtane of the Koran, he called on the community to pray for a quick release of the hostages.  The Cardinal showed himself to be moved by the brotherly gathering in the mosque of Lyon and prayed with them.

The ceremony was concluded by the Imam of the mosque,  which had included a prayer calling for peace and brotherhood among people, against unjust wars, which affect innocent people.”

The entrance of Cardinal Barbarin to the mosque was not the first.  As Riposte Catholique writes, the Cardinal recited the Koran in 2010 at the end of Holy Mass and said the Shahada, the Islamic profession of Faith, in another place in 2011.  The Secretary of the Archbishop, Renaud de Kermadec, spoke finally of a misunderstood statement in the Cardinal’s address at a meeting of Interreligious Dialogue.

From katholisches...

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Riposte Catholique

The "Colorful Miracle" of a Bishop: Koran Suras Read in a Catholic Church

(L'Aquila)  The Diocesan Bishop of Teramo-Altri, Msgr Michele Seccia is leading a pastoral visit to the community of Silvi in Italian Abruzzo.  For the beginning of spring on the 21st of March he experienced there a "colorful miracle".  As he visited the church entrusted to the Franciscans, The Assumption in the vicinity of Silvi Marina, a resort town on the Adriatic, there were some Muslim children in the church reading suras from the Koran in Arabic.  The unexpected performance, an expression what is in many aspects a psuedo-interreligious and naively charming mentality, took place before the tabernacle.  The Bishop, who took no part in the program, was faced with an accomplished fact, as Messa in Latino reported.

The incident is reminiscent of the severe abuse of children in a Catholic private school in France , who were brought to a "promotion of interreligious understanding" in a mosque, where they were taught Muslim prayer postures.

The Bishop's comment is unknown.

Source, katholisches...

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Messa in Latino