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POPE-SULEIMAN Feb-24-2011 (330 words) With photos. xxxi

Pope discusses interreligious harmony with Lebanese president

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman met for a private audience in which Lebanon was highlighted as a nation that embodies the principles of freedom and interreligious harmony.

The pope welcomed Suleiman to the Vatican Feb. 24.

In addition to the 30-minute papal audience, Suleiman also met with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican foreign minister.

The Vatican said the meetings "served to highlight how Lebanon, because of the presence of various Christian and Muslim communities there, stands as a message of freedom and respectful coexistence, not only for the region, but for the whole world."

"In this context, it is increasingly necessary to promote collaboration and dialogue between religious confessions," the Vatican said.

The talks also included a discussion about "the importance of civil and religious authorities being committed to educating consciences in peace and reconciliation," it said.

"The hope was expressed that the formation of the new government may favor the desired stability of the nation, which is called to face important internal and international challenges," the Vatican said.

The discussions also touched on the situation in the Middle East, especially regarding recent events "in certain Arab states, with the parties expressing their shared conviction that it is vital to resolve the ongoing conflicts in the region," it said.

The leaders also spoke about the "delicate situation of Christians in the entire region, and to the contribution they can make for the good of society as a whole," the Vatican said.

Before the private talks began, the pope and Suleiman talked about a Feb. 23 ceremony in which the pope blessed a statue of St. Maron, the fourth-century hermit who founded the Maronite Catholic Church.

Suleiman and the Maronite patriarch, Cardinal Nasrallah P. Sfeir, attended the ceremony, which took place in front of the niche where the enormous marble statue was placed on the outer wall of St. Peter's Basilica.

END

From: [S]@comcast.net]

Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 10:20 PM

To: Webmaster@Adventistlaymen. Com

Subject: Articles of interest...

POPE-SULEIMAN Feb-24-2011 (330 words) With photos. xxxi

Pope discusses interreligious harmony with Lebanese president

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman met for a private audience in which Lebanon was highlighted as a nation that embodies the principles of freedom and interreligious harmony.

The pope welcomed Suleiman to the Vatican Feb. 24.

In addition to the 30-minute papal audience, Suleiman also met with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican foreign minister.

The Vatican said the meetings "served to highlight how Lebanon, because of the presence of various Christian and Muslim communities there, stands as a message of freedom and respectful coexistence, not only for the region, but for the whole world."

"In this context, it is increasingly necessary to promote collaboration and dialogue between religious confessions," the Vatican said.

The talks also included a discussion about "the importance of civil and religious authorities being committed to educating consciences in peace and reconciliation," it said.

"The hope was expressed that the formation of the new government may favor the desired stability of the nation, which is called to face important internal and international challenges," the Vatican said.

The discussions also touched on the situation in the Middle East, especially regarding recent events "in certain Arab states, with the parties expressing their shared conviction that it is vital to resolve the ongoing conflicts in the region," it said.

The leaders also spoke about the "delicate situation of Christians in the entire region, and to the contribution they can make for the good of society as a whole," the Vatican said.

Before the private talks began, the pope and Suleiman talked about a Feb. 23 ceremony in which the pope blessed a statue of St. Maron, the fourth-century hermit who founded the Maronite Catholic Church.

Suleiman and the Maronite patriarch, Cardinal Nasrallah P. Sfeir, attended the ceremony, which took place in front of the niche where the enormous marble statue was placed on the outer wall of St. Peter's Basilica.

END

MIDEAST-DEMOCRACY Feb-23-2011 (750 words) With photos. xxxi

Middle East leaders discuss popular desire for democracy, equality

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

ROME (CNS) -- The political changes spreading across North Africa and the Middle East show the people's desire for democracy and equality, said Christian and Muslim leaders, including several from Egypt where popular demonstrations toppled the government of President Hosni Mubarak.

Speaking Feb. 23 at the Rome-based Community of Sant'Egidio, Catholic bishops and Muslim leaders from around the region admitted they did not know exactly what the future would hold, but the grass-roots democracy movements seemed to indicate a growing recognition that when one religious or ethnic group suffers systematic discrimination, true democracy does not exist for anyone in the country.

The religious leaders, scholars and diplomats participating in the Sant'Egidio discussion about Christian-Muslim coexistence in the Middle East stood for a moment of silence to honor the victims of the recent push for democratic reforms.

Franco Frattini, Italy's foreign minister, told the group that unlike in Egypt and Tunisia where protests were largely peaceful, in Col. Moammar Gadhafi's Libya, "there has been horrible bloodshed ... with the deaths of more than 1,000 Libyans."

The Egyptian protests, which saw Muslims and Christians standing side by side calling for democracy and constitutional reforms, demonstrated that "the more democracy and freedom there is, the more the freedom of each individual is respected and guaranteed," Frattini said.

Mohammed Esslimani, a Muslim theologian, was in Cairo during the protests and read from the diary he kept at the end of January and beginning of February. The diary was filled with stories of Christians and Muslims standing together in Tahrir Square and helping one another.

"I was able to live the most beautiful days of my life," he said.

Muhammad Rifaa al-Tahtawi, who was the spokesman for Cairo's al-Azhar University until he quit in early February to join the demonstrators, told the conference that many of the Christian-Muslim tensions and violence in Egypt were the fault of Mubarak's government.

"A despotic regime tried to convince the Christians that they needed its protection and convince the Muslims that Christians were the agents of the West," he said.

But when the demonstrators, mostly young Egyptians, took to the streets calling for democracy, "they forgot their rifts," he said.

Cardinal Antonios Naguib, the Coptic Catholic patriarch of Alexandria, told reporters at the conference that the government change in Egypt was driven by the dreams of the country's young people expressing "their desire for values like justice, freedom, peace and equality."

A danger exists that power could fall into the hands of those who want to impose their interpretation of Islam on the whole country, he said, but those who rallied for change will not accept that easily.

In his address to the conference, he said Christians and Muslims, recognizing they share belief in one God and in the importance of prayer and of putting the precepts of their faith into practice, need to invest more time and money in projects that promote mutual understanding and concrete action to help society as a whole.

Tarek Mitri, a Greek Orthodox professor at the American University in Beirut, told the conference that people throughout the region are beginning to understand that full citizenship means not letting one's confessional identity automatically dictate political choices.

"The lessons of modern history and the recent unexpected and powerful emergence of popular movements" across the region encourage people to recognize they are citizens of the same country largely facing the same fate, he said.

"We live in a region where civic identity is weak -- it's starting to change now, but it will require time," Mitri said. In the meantime, educators and leaders must help the region's people understand that citizenship is based on the individual's importance and not on his or her belonging to a particular religious or ethnic group.

Muhammad al-Sammak, adviser to the chief mufti of Lebanon, told the conference that the Middle East is changing, but it is not clear exactly how the changes will impact the region's Christian minority.

"Liberal democracy is advancing, but the question is: Do political freedom and religious freedom always go together?" he asked.

Al-Sammak said the answer may not always be "yes," and he pointed to the countries of the former Soviet bloc where the post-1989 freedoms have led to a surge in secularism and materialism, not religiosity.

Pro-democracy demonstrators in Egypt were very careful to focus on the fact of citizenship and on bringing Muslims and Christians together, he said, "but this does not mean that the (extreme) Islamists won't try to hijack the process."

END

*******Signature

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

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