What next?

VATICAN: MARY IS MUSLIM-CATHOLIC BRIDGE

"The Marian academy in Rome launched a 10-week webinar series titled "Mary, a model for faith and life for Christianity and Islam" in collaboration with the Grand Mosque of Rome and the Islamic Cultural Center of Italy.

"Based on his belief that Mary is "a Jewish, Christian and Muslim woman," Fr. Gian Matteo Roggio, organizer of the Muslim-Catholic dialogue series on Our Lady, is seeking to mobilize Mary as a model of "open borders" between religious and multicultural worlds.

"Islamic historian Raymond Ibrahim told Church Militant that "this series is yet another attempt to try to convince Catholics that Islam is somehow similar to their Faith when, in fact, Islam appropriates the names and sacred auras of biblical figures but then recasts them with completely different attributes — ones that reaffirm Islam as the 'true' faith."

Raymond Ibrahim previously blasted the grand imam of al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayyeb for "repeatedly contradicting all the lofty sentiments in the document he signed with the pope," as the Holy See marks the anniversary of the Abu Dhabi deal, which was signed Feb. 4, 2019.

"In an exclusive interview with Church Militant, Ibrahim called out the "doublespeak" of Sheikh al-Tayyeb "if only when speaking in Arabic and appearing on Arabic media, as opposed to when 'dialoguing' with naïve Western leaders who are all too eager to believe what they want to hear."

In October 2020 Church Militant reported that Pope Francis' Muslim dialogue partner Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb had demanded "an international law banning criticizing or insulting Islam — a day before three Catholics were slaughtered in Nice's Notre-Dame Basilica."

POPE TO HOST INTERFAITH PRAYER AT ‘BABEL’

"VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - Pope Francis' proposed interreligious prayer service for Muslims, Yazidis, Mandaean-Sabean and other religions at the site of Ur during his Iraq visit is being slammed as more evocative of the 'Tower of Babel' than the 'House of Abraham.'

"Nottingham University's Hebrew Bible scholar Gavin Fernandes told Church Militant that "there are several reasons why this is a bad choice of venue for such an event."

"The academic ... expressed surprise that the interreligious meeting was being held in the shadow of a ziggurat explicitly evocative of the Tower of Babel in the book of Genesis — a structure representing totalitarian humanism and flagrant defiance of God."

Having seemingly embraced idolatry, what next?

OVER 100 CATHOLIC LEADERS CONDEMN ‘SACRILEGIOUS AND SUPERSTITIOUS ACTS’ AT AMAZON SYNOD

Postscript [10.03.2021]

What next? - ‘Muslims are triumphantly declaring that the pope has surrendered to Islam’

"ERBIL, Iraq (ChurchMilitant.com) – Pope Francis’ Iraq trip has triggered a tidal wave of mockery on social media, with Muslims gleefully announcing that the pontiff has surrendered to Islamic supremacy, an Iraqi Muslim convert has told Church Militant...

"While the pope’s visit has certainly created a feel-good atmosphere among Catholics, Aza is predicting that 'the collateral damage for evangelism among Muslims' will be monumental." Full report here.

Hostilities

Some good news for a change:

Aid to the Church in Need reports that Christian girl Farah Shaheen, aged 12, from Pakistan, the subject of an earlier entry A slave for her faith has been joyfully reunited with her family this week following an unexpected court ruling in her favour. Farah had been abducted, forcibly married and made to clear filth in a cattle yard while shackled and attached to a chain. After being rescued, her father went to court to have the marriage rescinded. Aid to the Church in Need mounted a major media campaign in support of Farah, her family and advocates in Pakistan.

That is welcome news but the persecution of Christians around the world continues. From International Christian Concern:

Open Doors reports that "More Christians are murdered for their faith in Nigeria than in any other country. Violent attacks by Boko Haram, Hausa-Fulani Muslim militant herdsmen, ISWAP (an affiliate of the Islamic State group) and other Islamic extremist groups are common in the north and middle belt of the country, and are becoming more common farther south.

"In these attacks, Christians are often murdered or have their property and means of livelihood destroyed. Men and boys are particularly vulnerable to being killed. The women and children left behind are very vulnerable and living testimonies to the power of the attackers. Perpetrators are seldom brought to justice. Christian women are often abducted and raped by these militant groups, and sometimes forced to marry Muslims."

Meanwhile in Great Britain a BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour interview with the first woman to lead the Muslim Council of Britain has been criticised for being "strikingly hostile" with complainants calling for a greater representation of Muslims within the BBC.

The "hostility" referred to was an attempt by the interviewer to find out how many female imams there are in Britain. Either the Muslim Council's leader did not know or simply refused to say. She could have said so. Instead there are accusations of Islamophobia.

A sense of proportion is needed. 

Foot in the door

'Sailing Nun' to help steer Church course with key Vatican job

 (Photos source: Twitter)

Translated from Vida Nueva: "Nathalie Becquart: the woman with a voice and (for the first time) with a vote at the Synod" - and a foot in the door!

"A female undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops. Make no mistake about what it means. It is not an administrative responsibility anymore. The French nun Nathalie Becquart will be in charge, along with the Spanish Augustinian Luis Marín, named after her on February 6, to take care of the proper functioning of this Roman department that is in a prominent place on Pope Francis' reform agenda. And they will do so under the guidance of Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod since last year.

Marie-Lucile Kubaki, Vatican correspondent for the French Catholic weekly La Vie, observed, "With her arrival at the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, the Pope deepens his logic of appointing more women to positions of responsibility in the Vatican, as he did with Francesca di Giovanni, undersecretary in the Section for relations with States in 2020, for example.

"Small but firm steps. That seems to be Jorge Mario Bergoglio's strategy. It is clear that Nathalie's voice and vote will not change things on their own. But for the first time, the opinion of one of the 660,000 religious women on the planet counts. Will others follow?"

'Small but firm steps' will sound familiar to Anglicans. Step by step women who, allegedly, only wanted to be deacons used every trick in the book to be ordained priest  and to be admitted to the episcopacy.

Remember when it was said that if women were allowed to be accepted as deacons, it didn't follow that they would then be allowed to become priests? When deacons wanted to be ordained priests, it didn't mean that they would be allowed to become bishops?

Jolly June Osborne, bishop of Llandaff, admitted recently in a podcast that "once you've made women priests there isn't a theological reason at all why they shouldn't enter the episcopacy."

June along with her colleague Joanna Penberthy, bishop of St Davids, both complain that anyone taking a different theological position to them is prejudiced.

In a television interview in April 2018, bishop Joanna asserted, "if you can be prejudiced in the soft institution of the church, what does that say about your attitude to women?"

The 'soft institution of the church' to use Penberthy's words has been used by feminists to advance their own cause at the expense of the Church, trampling on the faithful in the process as Women and the Church (WATCH) have demonstrated when they have reneged on the agreement that gave them what they wanted, feminist power.

A foot in the door is just the beginning.

Caption corner 13 February, 2021

Source: Twitter

Publishable captions will appear under Comments.

 

Time for the Beeb to red card Lineker?

Lineker has been the main presenter of Match of the Day for more than 20 years          Source: BBC

Following news that the TV licence fee is to be increased from £157.50 to £159 Mail Online reported this reaction from a community nurse after Gary Lineker tweeted his 'heartless' reaction to the increase.

The mother-of-two who specialises in dementia and palliative care said she is facing being kicked out of her home for missing a TV licence direct debit.

"She fumed: 'I'm an NHS nurse, worked all through the pandemic. Me and my two children are facing homelessness and TV licensing are taking me to court for a missed direct debit. She said she questioned if she could be taken to court and added: 'Explained it to the inspector that came to the house. 'But as I had a BBC channel on it was deemed a breach as the licence was not renewed due to the failed direct debit. 'Paid it on the spot. Got told to change my plea to guilty to avoid more fees. 'It's been a long nightmare'." 

Mail Online reported that BBC star Gary Lineker was accused of 'mocking the poor' after joking about his £1.3million salary in response to the corporation ramping up the cost of the licence fee. The 60 years old former England soccer player responded to news of the hike from £157.50 to £159 on Twitter with 'But, but I've just taken a pay cut', followed with a zany face emoticon.

Lineker's attempt at a joke misfired badly and saw him described as 'heartless' and 'missing the mood of the public'. The community nurse responded with "I hope you manage to survive with your pay cut."

Lineker may have taken a pay cut from around £1.7 million but he is still paid £1.3 million, the cost of over 8,000 TV licenses when many pensioners over 75 and over-stretched workers cannot afford one.

I know soccer is a kin to religion for many but the cost of retaining this over-paid 'high priest' and other similarly over-paid 'stars' is depriving some of the most vulnerable in society of a link with the outside world, particularly when they are essentially under house arrest during lock-down.

A slave for her faith

 

Farah Shaheen (©Aid to the Church in Need).

I have regularly looked at the photo of this poor girl gazing through the camera because, stunned into inaction, the email from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has remained in my in-tray. 

What are her thoughts? What if she were my daughter, or yours?

Farah's story is appalling, best explained by this extract from the ACN email:

"The father of a 12-year-old Christian girl – kidnapped, raped, shackled hand and foot, and forced to work from dusk till dawn – has at last spoken out about her ordeal.

"When police rescued Farah Shaheen from the Faisalabad house of 45-year-old Khizar Ahmed Ali (Hayat) in December 2020, she was too traumatised to speak but, bit by bit, has revealed her harrowing five-month ordeal to her father, Asif Masih.

"In a statement to Aid to the Church in Need, Mr Masih said his daughter was attached to a chain and forced to work all day “as a slave” damaging her shackled hands and feet in the process.

"Mr Masih said: 'Farah has told me she was treated like a slave. She was forced to work all day, cleaning filth in a cattle yard. 24-7 she was attached to a chain.'

"Condemning Mr Ahmed for forcing Farah to marry him and convert to Islam, he said: “She was sexually assaulted by her abductor and raped multiple times by [his] landlords”."

Sadly this is not an isolated case. The email continues:

"Describing the mistreatment of girls from minority faith backgrounds as 'a cancer in our society', he said: “I beg you to demand that the Government stops this evil in its tracks and brings the culprits to justice.”

"Pakistan’s Movement for Solidarity and Peace estimates that up to 1,000 young Christian and Hindu females between 12 and 25 are abducted each year."

Another tragic report describes how 14-year-old Maira Shahbaz was bundled into a car at gunpoint by three men on 28th April 2020, in Medina Town, Pakistan.  She was filmed and photographed being raped, and was then forced to convert to Islam and marry one of her abductors, Mohamad Nakash Tariq, 30 years her senior.

A petition has been presented to Fiona Bruce, MP, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Religious Freedom or Belief asking Prime Minister Boris Johnson to grant asylum for Maira Shahbaz and her family. In that regard Maira is luckier than most.

In 2019 the BBC reported Christian persecution 'at near genocide levels'. In 2021 little has changed.

Persecution of Christians Exacerbated by a Year of Covid-19 According to World Watch List 2021:

• Christians in numerous African and Asian nations have been refused coronavirus aid
  
  
• Islamic militants have exploited Covid-19 restrictions, increasing violence against Christians in sub-Saharan Africa by 30 per cent.
  
  
• Covid-19 has legitimised repression through increased surveillance by authoritarian governments such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
  
  
• Women have been especially vulnerable in Covid-imposed lockdowns, with psychological violence as well as kidnapping and forced conversions.

In another email ACN gives details of slaughter in Africa. Another highlights  Religious bias faced by Christians in Pakistan. In Myanmar displaced Christians have formed a village called 'Bethel' outside Yangon.

There are regular reports of attacks on Christians but not on action to curb them. 

In my entry The naivety of Christian leaders I wrote: Christian leaders would do well to heed the warning of bishop Michael Nazir-Ali who explained back in 2011 how Christianity has become almost extinct in the Middle East, the cradle of Christianity, and Islam, the 'religion of peace', has became dominant in the Arab world.

Christianity is on the decline while Muslims are the world’s fastest-growing religious group.

It doesn't take much imagination to realise the fate of Christians when looking at counties in which they are already a minority.