During Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Germany, he quoted a medival text that of Manuel II Paleologus, one of the last Christian emperors, who said - while Constantinople was under threat from Muslim forces - the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad were “evil and inhuman”. Manuel II also accused Muhammad of “spreading faith by the sword." As a result, huge demoninstrations against the Holy Father have begun. Seven churches, two this morning, in the West Bank and Gaza were burned and a nun was murdered at a children's hospital! Your prayers are desperately needed!
The Holy Father apologized for his comments causing such violence. Pray that no further death or destruction will come out of this. Pray that those who resorted to violence will repent.
The Holy Father said: “These words were in fact a quotation from a medieval text which do not in any way express my personal thought. I hope that this serves to placate souls and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect.”
Image Source: AFP/Daniele Colarieti
8 comment(s):
I think at this point we need to pray for the churches and people that are in harms way too.
Amy Welborn has a post that gives great insight on his Angelus response. Click here
Been praying, and will keep doing so!
Moneybags:)
You may like to check out 4HisChurch blog. There is a banner of support for the Pope on her blog.
We have now placed this banner on our blog as well. I hope that it catches on.
Here is the link:
http://dymphnaswell.blogspot.com/
Peace to you
Marie
Moneybags, thanks for the link. I'll put mine up!
I thought I left a comment earlier but I guess it didn't work.
I too have been praying for the Pope, for that nun and for world peace.
Thanks for helping to spread the word on the need for prayers.
We find that not all is fair it was just in Feb that in Turkey they had killed a priest because of a cartoon that we did not have anything to do with.
I too hope that nothing happens to the Pope, and that he stands firm on his comments (and doesn’t apologize…again). That being said, if the Pope claims the title of "Holy Father" or even allows himself to be referred to in that way, as you have done here and as John Paul II is referred to in the introduction to the Catechism (10), then He is stealing that title from God the Father (John 17:11; cf Matt 23:1-12). We should refer to God as our Holy Father. Similar concerns could be brought with the Pope being called the “Head of the Church” or the “Vicar of Christ”.
Christ is the head of the Church as we see in Ephesians 1:22; 5:23 and Colossians 1:18. If, in fact, the Pope claims this title, then He is stealing it from Christ. Also, the word “vicar”, seems to come from vicarious which means “taking the place of another person or thing; acting or serving as a substitute” (dictionary.com). If, as the catechism states in 882 & 936, the Pope (and other members of the clergy) claim this title, they have stolen that from the Holy Spirit. The One who is here in the place of Christ is the Holy Spirit, for He came when Christ left to guide us and empower us.
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