| Monday, November 20, 2006 |
| POPE BENEDICT XVI AND THE MUSLIMS |
With his blunt talk on Islam, Pope Benedict XVI is altering the debate between the Muslim world and the West.
Just 19 months on his tenure, the Pope had become as much as a moral lightning rod as a theologian; suddenly when he speaks, the world listens. And so what takes place over four days in three Turkish cities has the potential to define hsi papacy - and a good deal more.
The Pope's original invitation came in 2005, form the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which represents a nervous 0.01% of the country's population. The Turkish government, miffed that as a Cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger had opposed Turkey's urgent bid to join the European Union, finally issued its own belated offer for 2006. But even now, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has discovered a previous engagement that will take him out of the country while Benedict is n it.Although modest, sales of a Turkish novel subtitled Who Killed the Pope in Istanbul? ( the book fingers everyone but Islamists) have increased as his trip approaches. The country is expected to place about 22,000 policemen on the streets of Istanbul whle he is there. "This is a very high-risk visit", says Cengiz Aktar, a Turkish politcal scientist. "There is a vocal nationalist movement here, and there is the Pope, a man who likes to play with fire."
ON REASON AND VIOLENCE:
(In his speech at the Unviersity of Regensburg, Germany, Sept. 12,2006)
The decisive statement ....against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature. [But] Theodore Khury observes... for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with ....rationality.
ON COEXISTENCE:
To a group fo moderate Muslims in Cologne, Germany, during his visit on Aug. 20,2005:
Those who instigate and plan these attacks evidently wish to poison our relatins, making use of all means, including religion, to oppose every attempt to build a peaceful, fair and serene life together.
ON ISLAM AND THE WEST:
From his interview book Salt of the Earth (with Peter Seewald) in 1996:
In the face of deep moral contradictions of the West and of its internal helplessness... the Islamic soul reawakened... 'We know who we are; our religion is holding its ground; you don't have one any longer.'
CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM: A HISTORY OF INTERACTION
589 - 632
Koran revealed to Muhammad; it shares stories with Judeo-Christian texts.
711 - 718
Arabs conquer Spain, which becomes center of commerce and culture.
1096 - 1291
Christian Europe launches the Crusades against Islam.
1453
Ottoman Turks take Constantinople, captial of Orthodox Christianity.
1492
King Ferdinand drives the Moores from Spain and next expels the Jews.
1683
The Ottoman siege of Vienna falls, marking the end of its Islamic expansion.
1965
Vatican issues Nostra Aetate, which calls for Interfaith discussion.
2001
Pope John Paul II is first Pontiff to visit a mosque in Damascus, Syria.
Sept. 2006
Pope Benedict XVI links Islam to violence, igniting debate and protest.
(Source: Abstracted from "The Passion of the Pope" from TIMEMAG by David Van Biema and Jeff Israely/Rome) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 11:38 PM |
|
| 1 Comments: |
-
A visit to watch closely!
|
| |
| << Home |
| |
|
|
|
| About Me |
|
Name: infraternam meam
Home: Chicago, United States
About Me: I am now at the prime of my life
and have been married for the past 25 years.
Sickly at times, but wants to see the elixir vita,
so that I will be able to see my grandchildren from my two boys.
See my complete profile
|
| Previous Post |
|
| Archives |
|
| Links |
|
|
| Powered by |
|
|
A visit to watch closely!