Bergoglio praying toward Mecca
Bergoglio praying toward Mecca
To know whom to avoid is a great means of saving our souls.
[...] Thus, the Church forbids the faithful to communicate with those
unbelievers who have forsaken the faith by corrupting it, such as heretics, or
by renouncing it, such as apostates.
St. Thomas Aquinas
Above, you see Pope Bergoglio praying, facing toward Mecca, inside the mosque of Bangui on Monday, November 30, 2015.
Bangui is the capital of the Central African Republic, which has been
scourged by civil war since 2012, when the Muslim militia Seleka took
power and started a violent persecution against Catholics and
Protestants, as we have seen here.
A strong reaction rose up among this population and the persecuted
parties formed the Anti-Balaka militia, which has been expelling all
Muslims from the country and destroying their mosques.
A remaining group of Muslims still gathers in a neighborhood in Bangui.
It was to protect this group and its mosque that Francis went there to
pray and to ask the victorious Catholic and Protestant militias to spare
those Muslims. The least one can say is that, with this action, Francis
took another symbolic step to promote the dissemination of Islam.
Below first row, after entering the mosque Bergoglio is pictured going to the main area of the mosque to pray facing toward Mecca. Second to fourth rows, he listens to speeches of imams thanking him for the visit. Fifth row, a shot of his arrival at the mosque; sixth row, a general view of the building.
