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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
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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