(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says each of us should ask Jesus to gaze at us and tell us what we need to do to change our hearts and repent for our sins. We should consider whether Jesus looks at us with a call, with a pardon or with a mission? The Pope’s remarks came during…
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(Vatican Radio) The 3 day conference ‘Nostra Aetate – Celebrating 50 years of the Catholic Church’s Dialogue with Jews and Muslims’ concluded yesterday at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. The President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity – and also responsible for the Church’s dialogue with the Jewish people – Cardinal Kurt Koch, was there. He says the Nostra Aetate declaration was a landmark in relations between the Catholic Church and other faiths.
But, he notes that while the Church has ongoing bilateral talks with Jewish and Muslim religious leaders, it may be too early to engage in a “trialogue” among the three monotheistic faiths.
“We don’t have trialogue and for us it is too early to make this because sometimes we speak about an Abrahamitic ecumenism – this is very clear – it is a good issue. But on the other hand, we have a very, very different interpretation of Abraham and we cannot deny this issue. And in the interreligious discussion, it is very important to treat also this difference that we have in the interpretation of Abraham.”
Asked if Muslim and Jewish religious leaders would be open to such a dialogue and if it could pave the way to improved relations among the three faiths, Cardinal Koch responds,
“We hope that we can go in this [direction] in future but we have in every religion, we have opposition. We have open leaders, we have open Muslim leaders, we have open Christian leaders, but we have opposition in all the three religions. We have also opposition in the Catholic Church against Nostra Aetate. The same groups, they are against ecumenism, against interreligious dialogue, against the religious freedom declaration. And I think that they are minorities. We must go on the basis of the Second Vatican Council with the high authority of the Catholic Church and we cannot deny this very important influence.”
Listen to Philippa Hitchen’s extended interview with Cardinal Koch:
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The 3 day conference ‘Nostra Aetate – Celebrating 50 years of the Catholic Church’s Dialogue with Jews and Muslims’ concluded yesterday at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. The President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity – and also responsible for the Church’s dialogue with the Jewish people – Cardinal…
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday (May 21st) encouraged Italy’s police officers to take action against violent and corrupt individuals, saying the country needs people to serve it with altruism, generosity and continuity. He praised the police officers for their help in welcoming migrants landing on the nation’s shores and in counteracting the “unscrupulous human traffickers” and said their job is an important and noble mission of service to the entire community that sometimes can lead to the sacrifice of their own lives. The Pope’s remarks came in an address to the family members of Italian police officers who were killed or injured whilst on active duty.
Pope Francis said the work of a police officer is a mission that carries a strong sense of duty and discipline and a willingness, if necessary, to lay down one’s life in order to uphold “the rule of law, defend democracy” and engage in the struggle against “organized crime or terrorism.” Your mission, he said, requires “the courage” to rescue whoever is in danger and to stop the aggressor in order to protect the wider society from “the arrogance of corrupt or violent individuals.”
The Pope noted that nowadays police officers often find themselves on the front line, both in welcoming migrants landing on Italy’s shores and in taking action to apprehend the unscrupulous human traffickers. In this work, he said, you distinguish yourselves by “the moral imperative to do good, to save as many people as possible and to not spare yourselves in donating energy and time for this mission.”
Pope Francis concluded by urging the police officers to continue their mission and Christian witness at the service of all and said by defending the weak and the rule of law they are a role model for Italy that “needs people to serve it with altruism, generosity and continuity.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday (May 21st) encouraged Italy’s police officers to take action against violent and corrupt individuals, saying the country needs people to serve it with altruism, generosity and continuity. He praised the police officers for their help in welcoming migrants landing on the nation’s shores and in counteracting the “unscrupulous human…
Read more