Pope to welcome Muslim leader who has justified anti-Semitism and crucifixion of “enemies of Allah” to Vatican
May 20, 2016 3:02 pm By Robert Spencer
Al-Tayeb has shown himself over the years to be anything but a preacher of peace, cooperation and mercy: he has justified anti-Semitism on Qur’anic grounds; called for the Islamic State murderers of the Jordanian pilot to be crucified or have their hands and feet amputated on opposite sides (as per the penalty in Qur’an 5:33 for those who make war against Allah and his messenger or spread “mischief” in the land); and broken off “dialogue” with the Vatican after Pope Benedict XVI dared to criticize the jihad massacre of 21 Christians in Alexandria on New Year’s Eve 2011. Al-Azhar was also revealed to be offering free copies of a book that called for the slaughter of Christians and other Infidels.
Will the Pope during this visit again affirm his respect for Islam and contempt for Christianity? Will he convert to Islam before al-Tayeb, or just offer his submission and a jizya payment?
Note also the headline: “Pope Francis to host Sunni Muslim leader at Vatican: Grand imam of Cairo’s prestigious al-Azhar mosque to visit Rome in sign of improved ties between Catholic Church and Muslim world.” “Improved ties between Catholic Church and Muslim world”? Really? Where? Muslims have massacred, exiled, forcibly converted or subjugated hundreds of thousands of Christians in Iraq and Syria. Have these “improved ties” saved even one Christian from suffering at the hands of Muslims? No, they haven’t. All they do is make the “dialogue” participants feel good about themselves, while the Middle Eastern Christians continue to suffer. In fact, the “dialogue” has actually harmed Middle Eastern Christians, by inducing Western Christian leaders to enforce silence about the persecution, for fear of offending their so-easily-offended Muslim “dialogue” partners.
Has the Pope welcomed any of the persecuted Christians to the Vatican? Or is that honor reserved only for this man, who will allow for “dialogue” only when his Christian “dialogue” partners maintain a respectful silence about Muslim massacres of Christians?
This Pope is a disgrace to the Church, to Judeo-Christian civilization, and to the free world.
“Leave them; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14)
Italy Pope Holy Thursday
“Pope Francis to host Sunni Muslim leader at Vatican: Grand imam of Cairo’s prestigious al-Azhar mosque to visit Rome in sign of improved ties between Catholic Church and Muslim world,” by Angus Mackinnon, Times of Israel, May 20, 2016:
VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Pope Francis is to meet the grand imam of Cairo’s al-Azhar at the Vatican on Monday in an unprecedented encounter between the leader of the world’s Catholics and the highest authority in Sunni Islam.
Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, who heads the mosque and seat of learning considered the most prestigious institution in the main branch of Islam, will have an audience with the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told AFP.
“This audience is being prepared and has been scheduled for Monday,” he said. “It will be a first.”
The hugely symbolic visit comes against the backdrop of a recent improvement in relations between the two faiths after serious tensions during the time of Francis’s predecessor, Benedict XVI.
Ties were badly soured when the now-retired Benedict made a September 2006 speech in which he was perceived to have linked Islam to violence, sparking deadly protests in several countries and reprisal attacks on Christians.
Dialogue resumed in 2009 but was suspended again by al-Azhar in 2011 when Benedict called for the protection of Christian minorities after a bomb attack on a church in Alexandria, an intervention that was perceived as meddling in Egypt’s internal affairs.
Relations have steadily improved since Francis became pope in 2013 with inter-faith dialogue near the top of his agenda, something he underlined with a personal message to the Muslim world to mark the end of the first month of Ramadan of his pontificate.
A representative of al-Azhar mosque, Mahmoud Azab, took part in an interfaith conference at the Vatican in March 2014 aimed at fostering cooperation on combating modern slavery and people trafficking.
“The dialogue was never cut, it was just suspended,” Azab said at the time, adding that the idea was not “dialogue for its own sake. There has to be a clear agenda.”
On a trip to Jordan and Israel in May 2014, Francis was accompanied by two old friends from his days in Buenos Aires, the Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Islamic studies professor Omar Abboud.
He has also pursued a historic rapprochement with the Orthodox Church, meeting the Russian patriarch in Cuba last year, and overseen the finessing of Catholic thinking on the need for Jews to convert, easing long-standing tensions with Judaism.
The 79-year-old pope made headlines in April when he returned from a trip to the migrant crisis island of Lesbos with three Syrian Muslim families who are now being put up by the Vatican as they apply for asylum in Italy.
Church officials say the choice of families was random but the gesture was nevertheless highlighted by media throughout the Islamic world and Francis came under fire from some on his own turf for not picking some of the Christians asylum-seekers in limbo on Lesbos.
The pope has however shown himself willing to speak out about aspects of Islam he has issues with, most notably in December 2014 when he said it would wonderful if some Muslim leaders “spoke up clearly and condemned” extremist violence carried out in the name of their religion….
Condemnations are easy. Genuine action for reform is hard.
May 20, 2016 3:02 pm By Robert Spencer 82 Comments
Al-Tayeb has shown himself over the years to be anything but a preacher of peace, cooperation and mercy: he has justified anti-Semitism on Qur’anic grounds; called for the Islamic State murderers of the Jordanian pilot to be crucified or have their hands and feet amputated on opposite sides (as per the penalty in Qur’an 5:33 for those who make war against Allah and his messenger or spread “mischief” in the land); and broken off “dialogue” with the Vatican after Pope Benedict XVI dared to criticize the jihad massacre of 21 Christians in Alexandria on New Year’s Eve 2011. Al-Azhar was also revealed to be offering free copies of a book that called for the slaughter of Christians and other Infidels.
Will the Pope during this visit again affirm his respect for Islam and contempt for Christianity? Will he convert to Islam before al-Tayeb, or just offer his submission and a jizya payment?
Note also the headline: “Pope Francis to host Sunni Muslim leader at Vatican: Grand imam of Cairo’s prestigious al-Azhar mosque to visit Rome in sign of improved ties between Catholic Church and Muslim world.” “Improved ties between Catholic Church and Muslim world”? Really? Where? Muslims have massacred, exiled, forcibly converted or subjugated hundreds of thousands of Christians in Iraq and Syria. Have these “improved ties” saved even one Christian from suffering at the hands of Muslims? No, they haven’t. All they do is make the “dialogue” participants feel good about themselves, while the Middle Eastern Christians continue to suffer. In fact, the “dialogue” has actually harmed Middle Eastern Christians, by inducing Western Christian leaders to enforce silence about the persecution, for fear of offending their so-easily-offended Muslim “dialogue” partners.
Has the Pope welcomed any of the persecuted Christians to the Vatican? Or is that honor reserved only for this man, who will allow for “dialogue” only when his Christian “dialogue” partners maintain a respectful silence about Muslim massacres of Christians?
This Pope is a disgrace to the Church, to Judeo-Christian civilization, and to the free world.
“Leave them; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14)
Italy Pope Holy Thursday
“Pope Francis to host Sunni Muslim leader at Vatican: Grand imam of Cairo’s prestigious al-Azhar mosque to visit Rome in sign of improved ties between Catholic Church and Muslim world,” by Angus Mackinnon, Times of Israel, May 20, 2016:
VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Pope Francis is to meet the grand imam of Cairo’s al-Azhar at the Vatican on Monday in an unprecedented encounter between the leader of the world’s Catholics and the highest authority in Sunni Islam.
Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, who heads the mosque and seat of learning considered the most prestigious institution in the main branch of Islam, will have an audience with the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told AFP.
“This audience is being prepared and has been scheduled for Monday,” he said. “It will be a first.”
The hugely symbolic visit comes against the backdrop of a recent improvement in relations between the two faiths after serious tensions during the time of Francis’s predecessor, Benedict XVI.
Ties were badly soured when the now-retired Benedict made a September 2006 speech in which he was perceived to have linked Islam to violence, sparking deadly protests in several countries and reprisal attacks on Christians.
Dialogue resumed in 2009 but was suspended again by al-Azhar in 2011 when Benedict called for the protection of Christian minorities after a bomb attack on a church in Alexandria, an intervention that was perceived as meddling in Egypt’s internal affairs.
Relations have steadily improved since Francis became pope in 2013 with inter-faith dialogue near the top of his agenda, something he underlined with a personal message to the Muslim world to mark the end of the first month of Ramadan of his pontificate.
A representative of al-Azhar mosque, Mahmoud Azab, took part in an interfaith conference at the Vatican in March 2014 aimed at fostering cooperation on combating modern slavery and people trafficking.
“The dialogue was never cut, it was just suspended,” Azab said at the time, adding that the idea was not “dialogue for its own sake. There has to be a clear agenda.”
On a trip to Jordan and Israel in May 2014, Francis was accompanied by two old friends from his days in Buenos Aires, the Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Islamic studies professor Omar Abboud.
He has also pursued a historic rapprochement with the Orthodox Church, meeting the Russian patriarch in Cuba last year, and overseen the finessing of Catholic thinking on the need for Jews to convert, easing long-standing tensions with Judaism.
The 79-year-old pope made headlines in April when he returned from a trip to the migrant crisis island of Lesbos with three Syrian Muslim families who are now being put up by the Vatican as they apply for asylum in Italy.
Church officials say the choice of families was random but the gesture was nevertheless highlighted by media throughout the Islamic world and Francis came under fire from some on his own turf for not picking some of the Christians asylum-seekers in limbo on Lesbos.
The pope has however shown himself willing to speak out about aspects of Islam he has issues with, most notably in December 2014 when he said it would wonderful if some Muslim leaders “spoke up clearly and condemned” extremist violence carried out in the name of their religion….
Condemnations are easy. Genuine action for reform is hard.
Topic: Pope to welcome Muslim leader who has justified anti-Semitism and crucifixion of “enemies of Allah” to Vatican May 20, 2016 3:02 pm By Robert Spencer 82 Comments Al-Tayeb has shown himself over the years to be anything but a preacher of peace, cooperati (Read 280 times)
