Fighting Poverty!, Catholics Dont Understand Their Faith? & Earth Day
Here is more of the latest from the cult of man.
Enter at your own risk. Keep in prayer for conversions.
One World Socialist Republic (in formation) fighting poverty...
In Adwa Christians and Muslims fight poverty together
Stories of peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims (Masonic propaganda).
Journey to the most depressed region of Ethiopia, Kidane Mehret, where
the Salesian mission founded by Italian nun Laura Girotto operates: “It
is with education, work and good relations that we build the future”
After years of war and famine, one thing Christians and Muslims
really have in common is poverty, sometimes in its most extreme form. We
are in Adwa, Ethiopia, a town 2000 metres above sea level situated in
the Tigrai, the country’s most depressed region, on the border with
Eritrea. 47% of the 30,000-strong population is Muslim, while the
majority is Christian, predominantly Orthodox and Protestant. Catholics
make up around 2% of the population.
The second thing Christians and Muslims have in common –given that they both participate in large numbers – is the Salesian Kidane Mehret mission, which was established 24 years ago, becoming the first Catholic entity present in the region since 1620, the year Adwa’s Jesuits were banished. It was the city’s elderly who asked the Salesians to open a school after witnessing the commitment shown by the Congregation in the nearby Makale valley.
Students, orphans and mothers
The day-to-day work of the mission, a vast complex, involves protecting, looking after and rescuing people from poverty, humiliation; people who build their futures with perseverance day after day, developing strong fraternal bonds, the kind of bonds that have always held the world together. There are pupils – over 1500 of them – who are happy to have the chance to go to school (from kindergarten to high school) and abandoned children who find a home and affection with the mission. There are adults who attend IT courses and become managers in companies and public offices and young men and women who take professional courses to learn a trade, which then allows them to provide for their families. There are mothers who are happy to learn the essentials of looking after their children and widows, single mothers and children orphaned by war or AIDS, who find hope again thanks to the assistance – medical too – they receive and without which they could not survive.
Muslim children and the Nativity play
“All of us, Christians and Muslims, get along very well,” says the mission’s founder, Sister Laura Girotto, a 72-year-olf nun from Turin, who work alongside six other nuns. “Here is a little example I find emblematic: every Christmas we put on a Nativity play with the kindergarten children and the Muslim children are desperate to play the shepherd boys and angels. It’s also important for their parents too and when they see the show they are always very moved. The government has wisely decided to proclaim Christian and Muslim feasts national holidays and we celebrate together.”
Learning a trade in a spirit of mutual respect
Some Muslim women working in the mission as tailors and performing agricultural work, describe their life with few words and deep satisfaction. Kerat Muhamed Ftwi, wife and mother of three says: “Here no one makes distinctions based on faith, each person is listened to and received the help they need. I can see that we - Christian and Muslim women - learn more working together; some beautiful friendships grow out of this and important projects are carried out.” Nuria Muhammed Abudurahim, wife and mother of two, seconds her: “The thing I appreciate most is finally having the chance to learn a trade and to be able to exercise it in a friendly environment where there is enormous respect among people of different faiths.” The young Nina Mohamed Amanentu spoke for all the women saying: “school plays a fundamental role in combating the poverty afflicting our population. We see education as the primary, essential step towards a safer and more dignified life.”
The joy of learning
Although there is a state school in Adwa, many Muslim parents decide to send their children to the school run by the mission, which is always full as it is considered a centre of excellence. Each class has an average of 50-60 pupils: “Some probably think that classes this big are impossible to handle,” says Sister Laura. “This is not the case though: children and adolescents are hungry learners, you can’t pull them away from their books: in the breaks we are forced to send them out to play and to lock the classrooms, otherwise they wouldn’t even go out to get a drink of water.” Over the years, Sister Laura has also taken 64 abandoned children into her care, after the social services gave her legal guardianship of them: many of these young people are now adults, making her a grandmother.
The role of women
Relations between nuns and Muslim religious authorities are very good, there have never been any problems or fallings out, not even in the early days, says Sister Laura. “In the city, the real problems arose over the fact that we are women. My arrival caused a storm: I had to build the mission and so I was giving orders to the workmen, I discussed the building plans with the site manager and fired people when it was necessary: this came as quite a shock to the people of Adwa, where women - faith aside- count for little – they are seen as nothing more than breeders and motherhood is the only thing that gives them some kind of social standing. I always say that if they find us dead one day the perpetrators are to be found among the males. The situation, however, is changing: thanks to education and work, the girls are becoming more aware of their worth.”
Planning for the future
A big hospital is currently being built and it is a project the nuns are especially eager to see completed. Thinking ahead to the future, Sister Laura concluded, “our aim is to entrust the mission to the people of Adwa, to nuns and lay people, who we are currently training. That is how we work, ‘initiate processes’, we feel like ‘fertile mothers, not spinsters’, to use two expressions that are dear to Pope Francis.”
Bensalem shrine to St. Katharine Drexel to be sold
The second thing Christians and Muslims have in common –given that they both participate in large numbers – is the Salesian Kidane Mehret mission, which was established 24 years ago, becoming the first Catholic entity present in the region since 1620, the year Adwa’s Jesuits were banished. It was the city’s elderly who asked the Salesians to open a school after witnessing the commitment shown by the Congregation in the nearby Makale valley.
Students, orphans and mothers
The day-to-day work of the mission, a vast complex, involves protecting, looking after and rescuing people from poverty, humiliation; people who build their futures with perseverance day after day, developing strong fraternal bonds, the kind of bonds that have always held the world together. There are pupils – over 1500 of them – who are happy to have the chance to go to school (from kindergarten to high school) and abandoned children who find a home and affection with the mission. There are adults who attend IT courses and become managers in companies and public offices and young men and women who take professional courses to learn a trade, which then allows them to provide for their families. There are mothers who are happy to learn the essentials of looking after their children and widows, single mothers and children orphaned by war or AIDS, who find hope again thanks to the assistance – medical too – they receive and without which they could not survive.
Muslim children and the Nativity play
“All of us, Christians and Muslims, get along very well,” says the mission’s founder, Sister Laura Girotto, a 72-year-olf nun from Turin, who work alongside six other nuns. “Here is a little example I find emblematic: every Christmas we put on a Nativity play with the kindergarten children and the Muslim children are desperate to play the shepherd boys and angels. It’s also important for their parents too and when they see the show they are always very moved. The government has wisely decided to proclaim Christian and Muslim feasts national holidays and we celebrate together.”
Learning a trade in a spirit of mutual respect
Some Muslim women working in the mission as tailors and performing agricultural work, describe their life with few words and deep satisfaction. Kerat Muhamed Ftwi, wife and mother of three says: “Here no one makes distinctions based on faith, each person is listened to and received the help they need. I can see that we - Christian and Muslim women - learn more working together; some beautiful friendships grow out of this and important projects are carried out.” Nuria Muhammed Abudurahim, wife and mother of two, seconds her: “The thing I appreciate most is finally having the chance to learn a trade and to be able to exercise it in a friendly environment where there is enormous respect among people of different faiths.” The young Nina Mohamed Amanentu spoke for all the women saying: “school plays a fundamental role in combating the poverty afflicting our population. We see education as the primary, essential step towards a safer and more dignified life.”
The joy of learning
Although there is a state school in Adwa, many Muslim parents decide to send their children to the school run by the mission, which is always full as it is considered a centre of excellence. Each class has an average of 50-60 pupils: “Some probably think that classes this big are impossible to handle,” says Sister Laura. “This is not the case though: children and adolescents are hungry learners, you can’t pull them away from their books: in the breaks we are forced to send them out to play and to lock the classrooms, otherwise they wouldn’t even go out to get a drink of water.” Over the years, Sister Laura has also taken 64 abandoned children into her care, after the social services gave her legal guardianship of them: many of these young people are now adults, making her a grandmother.
The role of women
Relations between nuns and Muslim religious authorities are very good, there have never been any problems or fallings out, not even in the early days, says Sister Laura. “In the city, the real problems arose over the fact that we are women. My arrival caused a storm: I had to build the mission and so I was giving orders to the workmen, I discussed the building plans with the site manager and fired people when it was necessary: this came as quite a shock to the people of Adwa, where women - faith aside- count for little – they are seen as nothing more than breeders and motherhood is the only thing that gives them some kind of social standing. I always say that if they find us dead one day the perpetrators are to be found among the males. The situation, however, is changing: thanks to education and work, the girls are becoming more aware of their worth.”
Planning for the future
A big hospital is currently being built and it is a project the nuns are especially eager to see completed. Thinking ahead to the future, Sister Laura concluded, “our aim is to entrust the mission to the people of Adwa, to nuns and lay people, who we are currently training. That is how we work, ‘initiate processes’, we feel like ‘fertile mothers, not spinsters’, to use two expressions that are dear to Pope Francis.”
(Vatican Radio) There is always resistance to the surprises of the Spirit, but it’s the Spirit who continues to lead the Church forward. That was Pope Francis’ message at Mass on Thursday at the Santa Marta chapel as he reflected on the reading about division and resistance within the early Church in Jerusalem.
Commenting on today’s reading from Acts about the Council of Jerusalem, Pope Francis said the protagonist in the Church is always the Holy Spirit. It’s the Spirit who, from the very beginning, gives strength to the apostles to proclaim the Gospel and it’s the Spirit who carries the Church forward despite its problems.
Even when there is an outbreak of persecution, the Pope said, it’s the Spirit who gives believers the strength to stand firm in the faith, even if they face resistance and anger from the doctors of the law. In the passage from Acts, the Pope noted, there was a double resistance to the Spirit, from those who believed that Jesus came only for the chosen people and from those who wanted to impose the law of Moses, including the practice of circumcision, on those who had converted.
There was great confusion over all this, the Pope said, but the Spirit led their hearts in a new direction. The apostles were surprised by the Spirit, he said, as they found themselves in new and unthinkable situations. But how were they to manage these circumstances? Pope Francis said the passage begins by noting that ‘much debate had taken place’: no doubt heated debate, because on the one hand they were pushed on and on by the Spirit, but on the other, they were facing new situations that they had never seen or even imagined, such as pagans receiving the Holy Spirit.
The disciples were holding a ‘hot potato’ in their hands and didn’t know what to do, the Pope said. Thus they called a meeting in Jerusalem where each one could recount their experiences of how the Holy Spirit had been received by the Gentiles. And in the end they came to an agreement. But first , the Pope noted, “The whole assembly fell silent, and they listened while Paul and Barnabas described the signs and wonders God had worked among the Gentiles through them.” Never be afraid to listen with humility, the Pope said. When you are afraid to listen, you don’t have the Spirit in your heart. When the apostles had listened, they decided to send several of the disciples to the Greeks, the pagan communities, that had become Christians to reassure them.
Those who converted, the Pope continued, were not obliged to be circumcised. The decision was communicated to them in a letter in which the disciples say that “The Holy Spirit and we have decided….” This is the way of the Church when faced with novelties, the Pope said. Not the worldly novelties of fashion, but the novelties of the Spirit who always surprises us. How does the Church resolve these problems? Through meetings and discussions, listening and praying, before making a final decision. This is the way of the Church when the Spirit surprises us, Pope Francis said, recalling the resistance that emerged in recent times during the Second Vatican Council.
That resistance continues today in one way or another, he said, yet the Spirit moves ahead. And the way the Church expresses its communion is through synodality, by meeting, listening, debating, praying and deciding. The Spirit is always the protagonist and the Lord asks us not to be afraid when the Spirit calls us. Just as the Spirit stopped St Paul and set him on the right road, so the Spirit will give us the courage and the patience to win over adversity and stand firm in the face of martyrdom. Let us ask the Lord for grace, the Pope concluded, to understand how the Church can face the surprises of the Spirit, to be docile and to follow the path which Christ wants for us and for the whole Church.
Surprise!!!
Francis’ holy spirit wants to turn everyone into a modernist!
Jesuit University of San Francisco basketball coach doesn’t want faithful Catholics on the team?
http://angelqueen.org/2016/04/19/jesuit-university-of-san-francisco-basketball-coach-doesnt-want-faithful-catholics-on-the-team/
Bensalem shrine to St. Katharine Drexel to be sold
Sister Donna Breslin, president of the
order of Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, stands in the chapel next to
the shrine of St. Katharine Drexel.
Nearly 125 years ago, the woman who
would become only the second American-born saint left her gilded-age
Philadelphia family and poured her $20 million inheritance into a
religious order.
Over decades, Katharine Drexel's congregation grew to more than 600 sisters, running schools designed to uplift minority populations long before the civil rights era.
But the passion of St. Katharine, who died in 1955 and was canonized in 2000, couldn't shield the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament from the declining membership and financial pressures straining most Roman Catholic orders.
On Tuesday, its leaders announced the once-unthinkable: They will sell the 44-acre Bensalem estate hosting the order's mother house and the shrine with the saint's tomb, as well as more than 2,200 acres in Virginia, where its two schools once stood.
"The properties are too large for our current and future needs, and for our financial resources," said Sister Donna Breslin, the order's president. They reached the decision, she said, "after prayer, study, and reflection."
The order said the shrine at 1663 Bristol Pike would remain open to visitors through the end of 2017. At some point, St. Katharine's remains will be transferred to the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Center City.
Pilgrims devoted to the secluded shrine and its landscaped
lower Bucks County grounds may find its relocation to the city
"difficult," Breslin said Tuesday during an interview at the massive
marble tomb, flanked by votive candles and topped by a ceramic relief of
angels.
"But we feel that in a sense this will be St. Katharine's returning to her second home," she said. "The cathedral is where her family worshipped, and it's where she formed her faith."
In a statement, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput called it "an honor and a blessing to accept this responsibility" for the care of the saint's remains. The archdiocese will also take over care of much of the archival materials, which include writings by St. Katharine, documents from the congregation's history, and records kept by sisters over the years.
The proceeds from the sales will go toward the order's ministry work and to support its retired sisters. About 50 still live at the Bensalem mother house, many in their 80s and 90s and in nursing care. They will be relocated.
"It is leaving home," Breslin said. "It's not easy. But we believe this is what God is asking of us."
News of the sale seems almost untimely: The order plans a two-day celebration this summer to mark its 125th anniversary.
Katharine Drexel established the group in 1891. Its full
name - the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored
People - sounds dated and is rarely used. But the sisters became known
for their outreach to minorities and commitment to civil rights.
Nearly a century ago, the order's founder was demanding that African Americans attending Mass in the Southern churches she built be allowed to sit in pews parallel to those occupied by whites - not in the rear of the church.
The Powhatan, Va., property was acquired by her brother-in-law in the early 1890s and later transferred to the congregation. The schools there - St. Francis de Sales and St. Emma - closed in the early 1970s. And while other ministry work has taken place at the Virginia properties since, officials said continuing those efforts was no longer financially sustainable.
The Bensalem campus, home to the order's central administration, was also fading. Some of the 10 buildings, half of which were built before 1933, have not seen much use for as long as eight years, according to Breslin. Two are vacant, others are underutilized, and the aging structures require constant maintenance.
The order still maintains a school in Arizona. And its sisters help out in parishes.
But in a trend across religious communities, their numbers continue to shrink. About half of its 104 members are retired, and only three sisters have professed final vows since St. Katharine's canonization 16 years ago, Breslin said, adding, "We haven't had any women enter [as novices] in several years."
Still, the shrine typically draws several thousand visitors annually. It got a boost during last year's World Meeting of Families and papal visit to Philadelphia, when 50 to 60 tour buses brought pilgrims to the site, which was open for extended hours. Pope Francis even made St. Katharine a focus of his homily during Mass at the basilica.
On Tuesday, Bensalem Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo said he was "saddened and shocked" by the news of the move.
"I pray these sacred grounds can be saved in some manner," he said in a statement, noting that he attended St. Charles Borromeo Elementary School across the street from the shrine.
The order's former size is evident in the majestic 1891 Gothic-style chapel, where 112 large, carved and polished oak chairs sit facing the center aisle, little used by the sisters.
But at the shrine's vestibule, Breslin pointed out the simple oak desk, chairs, and kneelers where St. Katharine prayed and worked, and the narrow wooden wheelchair the maintenance staff built when she grew infirm. Despite her inherited wealth, Breslin said, "she lived a life of great simplicity," even mending her own shoes.
Tuesday afternoon, a seat was occupied by one of the saint's fondest devotees.
"This is my second home," said Trudy Still-Brown, 83, of Torresdale, as she gazed on the distant altar.
"My grandmother Julia came here at 11" as an orphan "and worked for Mother Katharine [in the laundry] till she was 93," said Still-Brown, a retired chemistry and biology teacher in the Philadelphia public schools.
Her other grandmother also worked at the mother house, where her grandfather drove St. Katharine's "old Model T," and her mother, aunt, and uncle were all born there. She comes twice a week to pray and volunteer, she said.
Still-Brown said she was "grateful" for all that the mother house and school and sisters had given her family.
But the announcement of the sale was not a surprise.
"I could see it coming," she said.
Over decades, Katharine Drexel's congregation grew to more than 600 sisters, running schools designed to uplift minority populations long before the civil rights era.
But the passion of St. Katharine, who died in 1955 and was canonized in 2000, couldn't shield the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament from the declining membership and financial pressures straining most Roman Catholic orders.
On Tuesday, its leaders announced the once-unthinkable: They will sell the 44-acre Bensalem estate hosting the order's mother house and the shrine with the saint's tomb, as well as more than 2,200 acres in Virginia, where its two schools once stood.
"The properties are too large for our current and future needs, and for our financial resources," said Sister Donna Breslin, the order's president. They reached the decision, she said, "after prayer, study, and reflection."
The order said the shrine at 1663 Bristol Pike would remain open to visitors through the end of 2017. At some point, St. Katharine's remains will be transferred to the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Center City.
"But we feel that in a sense this will be St. Katharine's returning to her second home," she said. "The cathedral is where her family worshipped, and it's where she formed her faith."
In a statement, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput called it "an honor and a blessing to accept this responsibility" for the care of the saint's remains. The archdiocese will also take over care of much of the archival materials, which include writings by St. Katharine, documents from the congregation's history, and records kept by sisters over the years.
The proceeds from the sales will go toward the order's ministry work and to support its retired sisters. About 50 still live at the Bensalem mother house, many in their 80s and 90s and in nursing care. They will be relocated.
"It is leaving home," Breslin said. "It's not easy. But we believe this is what God is asking of us."
News of the sale seems almost untimely: The order plans a two-day celebration this summer to mark its 125th anniversary.
Nearly a century ago, the order's founder was demanding that African Americans attending Mass in the Southern churches she built be allowed to sit in pews parallel to those occupied by whites - not in the rear of the church.
The Powhatan, Va., property was acquired by her brother-in-law in the early 1890s and later transferred to the congregation. The schools there - St. Francis de Sales and St. Emma - closed in the early 1970s. And while other ministry work has taken place at the Virginia properties since, officials said continuing those efforts was no longer financially sustainable.
The Bensalem campus, home to the order's central administration, was also fading. Some of the 10 buildings, half of which were built before 1933, have not seen much use for as long as eight years, according to Breslin. Two are vacant, others are underutilized, and the aging structures require constant maintenance.
The order still maintains a school in Arizona. And its sisters help out in parishes.
But in a trend across religious communities, their numbers continue to shrink. About half of its 104 members are retired, and only three sisters have professed final vows since St. Katharine's canonization 16 years ago, Breslin said, adding, "We haven't had any women enter [as novices] in several years."
Still, the shrine typically draws several thousand visitors annually. It got a boost during last year's World Meeting of Families and papal visit to Philadelphia, when 50 to 60 tour buses brought pilgrims to the site, which was open for extended hours. Pope Francis even made St. Katharine a focus of his homily during Mass at the basilica.
On Tuesday, Bensalem Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo said he was "saddened and shocked" by the news of the move.
"I pray these sacred grounds can be saved in some manner," he said in a statement, noting that he attended St. Charles Borromeo Elementary School across the street from the shrine.
The order's former size is evident in the majestic 1891 Gothic-style chapel, where 112 large, carved and polished oak chairs sit facing the center aisle, little used by the sisters.
But at the shrine's vestibule, Breslin pointed out the simple oak desk, chairs, and kneelers where St. Katharine prayed and worked, and the narrow wooden wheelchair the maintenance staff built when she grew infirm. Despite her inherited wealth, Breslin said, "she lived a life of great simplicity," even mending her own shoes.
Tuesday afternoon, a seat was occupied by one of the saint's fondest devotees.
"My grandmother Julia came here at 11" as an orphan "and worked for Mother Katharine [in the laundry] till she was 93," said Still-Brown, a retired chemistry and biology teacher in the Philadelphia public schools.
Her other grandmother also worked at the mother house, where her grandfather drove St. Katharine's "old Model T," and her mother, aunt, and uncle were all born there. She comes twice a week to pray and volunteer, she said.
Still-Brown said she was "grateful" for all that the mother house and school and sisters had given her family.
But the announcement of the sale was not a surprise.
"I could see it coming," she said.
Catholics don’t understand their faith so the Talmudic Jews explain it to them
How the Moslems invade Europe with help from the Talmudists and the Noahide Novus Ordo
The International Catholic-Jewish Liason Committee (ILC) Meeting just
concluded in Warsaw, Poland. It was held over four days and the theme
was “The ‘Other’ in Jewish and Catholic Tradition: Refugees in Today’s World”. Read our recent post, the hermeneutics of talmudic alchemical continuity — John Paul II, Levinas, and Francis,
to get a better understanding of the Talmudical concept of the
‘Other’. There is no Catholic tradition of the ‘Other’. Below is the
text of the Joint Declaration issued by the ILC. The bold was added to
the text by Call Me Jorge... for emphasis.
The underlying themes of the Joint Declaration are:
THE 23rd INTERNATIONAL CATHOLIC-JEWISH LIAISON COMMITTEE MEETING
Warsaw, April 4-7, 2016
JOINT DECLARATION
The underlying themes of the Joint Declaration are:
- How great the Second Vatican Council and its Nostra Aetate document is,
- How the concentration camps of World War II should never be forgotten ergo Europe needs to take in Moslems because they wouldn't want more blood on their hands and they still need finish washing off the blood from the Second World War. It's a new form of reparations!,
- Do what the Talmudic Jews want and they will honor you by making one a “Righteous Among the Nations”,
- Read the Bible through a Talmudic lense, as opposed to the Church & Catholic tradition, to understand the ‘refugee crisis’,
- Fight ‘anti-semitism’,
- Don't ever forget the ‘Shoah’—business, and
- Lastly, dialogue with and welcome the Moslem invaders!
THE 23rd INTERNATIONAL CATHOLIC-JEWISH LIAISON COMMITTEE MEETING
Warsaw, April 4-7, 2016
JOINT DECLARATION
The 23rd meeting of the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee (ILC) took place in Warsaw, 4-7 April 2016. The ILC is the entity, created in 1971, formalizing the establishment of the official relationship between the Holy See and the worldwide Jewish community. The ILC is the official forum for ongoing dialogue between the Holy See´s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC). Jewish and Catholic representatives from five continents attended the gathering. Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, and Mr. Martin Budd, Esq., Chair of IJCIC, co-chaired the meeting.
This meeting was convened at an important time in history. The ILC emerged directly out of the Second Vatican Council and its profound transformative document, Nostra Aetate, the 50th anniversary of which has been celebrated and commemorated throughout the world. At the same time, there are challenges to interreligious and intercultural relations being felt by many millions in the world, not excepting Roman Catholics and Jews in many lands.
Poland was an appropriate setting for this meeting. It has been a venue for some of the most important and productive developments in both Catholic and Jewish culture and self-understanding, and also, in the 20th century, the scene of some of the most abhorrent events in world history. The ILC participants and the institutions they represent are fully cognizant of the dynamic tension that these two extremes represent and the noble challenge involved in developing contemporary understandings built on the lessons of the past. The participants are no less aware of how contemporary political dynamics have a direct impact on the human and social weal of both Catholics and Jews in Poland and elsewhere in the world.
The meeting opened with a public event attended by leaders of both communities, civic and government leaders from Warsaw and Poland, and representatives of the Vatican, the Polish Church, and the State of Israel.
The co-chairs of this ILC meeting, Cardinal Kurt Koch and Mr. Martin Budd, each gave a presentation establishing both the historic context and the emerging challenges. Cardinal Koch stressed that over the years one of the welcome products of these meetings has been the development of real friendships between the participants and a genuine sense of partnership between the communities they represent. Mr. Budd underscored the symbolic significance of meeting in this place, Warsaw, with its freighted history, and at this time, in the aftermath of the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate and in this moment of moral challenge for people of faith. The evening culminated with a presentation by the Ambassador of Israel to Poland. On behalf of Yad Vashem, three Polish Catholics were posthumously recognized by the ambassador as “Righteous Among the Nations” for saving Jewish lives during the Shoah, embodying the noblest realization of Catholic-Jewish relations.
The agenda of the biennial dialogue had as its theme “The ‘Other’ in Jewish and Catholic Tradition: Refugees in Today’s World.” To provide a religious and academic basis for subsequent discussions, the sessions began with in-depth analyses of how both the Jewish and Roman Catholic traditions and sources view “the other.” In keeping with the scholarly nature of these presentations, each speaker acknowledged the internal dialectic tension of the particular vs. the universal in each tradition, and emphasized the importance and moral integrity of accepting“the other” as an essential component of each tradition’s self-understanding. The presentations and the discussion that followed pointed out that our respective Scriptures provide us with a framework for addressing pressing social issues such as the refugee crisis of today. Responding to religious imperatives of Christians and Jews, the conference assessed the current refugee crisis overwhelming much of Europe, recognize the tensions between the obligations of love of strangers and the dignity of their creation in God’s image, with concerns for security and fear of change.
Although the last 50 years have largely seen unprecedented openness between our two communities in many places, not least on the international level, the last few years have witnessed a surge of problematic developments impacting both. After addressing how our respective traditions encourage us to help the other, we focused on how our two communities now find themselves in the position of being “other.” Anti-Semitism in both speech and action has resurfaced in Europe and elsewhere, and persecution of Christians, most notably in much of the Middle East and parts of Africa, has reached levels not seen in a long time.
Participants emphasized that antisemitism is real and takes many forms. It is a danger not only to Jews but also to democratic ideals. Improved and revitalized educational programs are necessary to combat it.
The participants noted that the persecution of Christians has increased every year between 2012 and 2015. They recognized the obligation to raise the consciousness across the world regarding this problem and acknowledged the moral responsibility to be a voice for the voiceless.
In recognition of the indisputable historic significance of the Shoah, the participants visited the Treblinka death camp. In a commemorative memorial, the leaders affirmed their commitment never to allow the tragedy to be forgotten, nor to allow the world ever again to permit such negation of the humanity or dignity of any human being, no matter his or her race, religion, or ethnicity.
Their visits to a Catholic social service agency and to the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews underscored the critical role of Jewish and Catholic communities in contemporary Polish life. The meeting celebrated the Polish experience of transition from Communism, with its repressions, to the freedom of study and expression of religious faith in a new society.
In keeping with the significance of the ILC since its inception 45 years ago, the representatives reiterated their continuing commitment to open and constructive dialogue as a model for interreligious and intercultural understanding in the world, most especially with religious leaders of the Muslim community. They also reiterated the commitment to collaborate in addressing the emerging needs of their communities wherever they may be, and to convey their transcendent messages to a world so much in need of authentic and caring affirmation represented by their two religious traditions.
more of the new evangelization from Paul ‘Ash’ Nicholson
Thankfully, it appears due to the recent fallout over at ChurchMilitant, the world will receive a respite from Nicholson’s smug videos in which he often mocks the Faith. We guess Nicholson will also no longer be providing spiritual support to Mr. Voris.
This cracker jack has been calling real catholics schismatics for quite some time. Please keep this modernist in your prayers...
Francis, “But I belong to this religion, or to that one… it doesn’t matter!”
It’s the ‘humble’ iPope of surprises making an
unexpected appearance at Earth Day Italia!
unexpected appearance at Earth Day Italia!
“Look, these are the things that come to my mind. How to do this? Simply in the awareness that we all have something in common, we’re all human. And in this humanity, we can get close to each other to work together … “But I belong to this religion, or to that one …” it doesn’t matter!
Let’s all go forward to work together, respecting each other, respecting! I see this miracle: the miracle of a desert that becomes a forest. Thanks for everything you do!”
...be sure to get your EarthCube which Francis was passing out
promoting the NWO religion of global warming & sustainable mother earth
promoting the NWO religion of global warming & sustainable mother earth
