"Muslims want to take the U.S. down," says a man accused of plotting terrorism

NY temple plot jury hears suspect rant about Jews

By TOM HAYS
NEW YORK (AP) -- A man accused of plotting to bomb New York synagogues and shoot down military planes ranted against Jews and mused about "taking down" targets in the United States, according to audio tapes played Monday at his federal trial.

The tapes were secretly recorded by a paid informant testifying against James Cromitie and three other men who were arrested in 2009 on their way to the synagogues.

The informant, Shahed Hussain, met Cromitie in 2008 after being sent by the FBI to infiltrate a Newburgh, N.Y., mosque. While wearing a wire, he later taped conversations they had during meals at restaurants and in meetings at his home.

"Muslims want to take the U.S. down," Cromitie says on one tape played for the jury. "Believe me, we can do it with our regular Muslims here."

Cromitie also bemoans American military ventures in the Middle East.

"What do we do to make it stop?" he says. "We start taking things down here, you understand?"

He adds: "I will kill 10 million (Jews) before I kill one Muslim."... Read More...

Gadhafi: Europe should convert to Islam

By AFP (Source: Cnews)

ROME - Libyan leader Moamer Gadhafi's visit to Rome to mark the second anniversary of a friendship treaty with former colonizer Italy stumbled into controversy Monday after he said Europe should convert to Islam.

Gadhafi made the comments on Sunday during a lecture to 500 young women hired and paid by an agency to attend his lecture.

"Islam should become the religion of all of Europe," one of the women quoted Gadhafi as saying in the Italian press.

The agency paid the women, mainly students who hire themselves out for advertising of publicity events, 70 or 80 euros (90 or 100 dollars) to attend and said it would not pay girls who gave their names to the press.

It also told them to dress conservatively for the lecture.

About 200 women on Monday gathered at the Libyan cultural centre in Rome to attend a second lecture.

One of the women present said that Gadhafi had said at the gathering that "women are more respected in Libya than in the West" and offered assistance in finding Libyan husbands.

"Islam is the last religion and if we are to have a single faith then it has to be in Mohammed," he said, according to the participant.

The lectures are "a new, humiliating violation of Italian women's dignity," opposition lawmaker and former health minister Rosy Bindi said.

Gadhafi's show also caused discomfort within the coalition of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a close ally of the Libyan leader.

"Gadhafi's words show his dangerous Islamisation project for Europe," said European MP Mario Borghezio of the anti-immigrant Northern League, junior partner in the coalition, according to Il Messaggero.

Carlo Giovanardi, a government undersecretary, tried to stem the criticism, saying Gadhafi's words were simply "a remark made during a private meeting."

Gadhafi landed in Italy on Sunday to mark the second anniversary of a friendship treaty signed with Berlusconi that drew a line under the countries' bitter colonial-era relationship.

Ties between Rome and its former colony have deepened since the signing of the accord, with Italy now the third largest European investor in the North African country.

Italy has said it will invest five billion dollars and build a 1,700 kilometre (1,050 mile) highway in Libya to compensate for its three decades of colonization from 1911 to 1943.

The head of Italy's energy giant ENI, Paolo Scaroni, called Libya the "pupil of my eyes", saying the company would invest 25 billion euros in the country.

Libya also owns about six percent of Italy's largest bank, Unicredit.

The two countries also reached an agreement that allows the Italian navy to intercept illegal migrants at sea and return them to Libya, triggering sharp criticism from the United Nations' refugee agency and human rights groups.

A representative of the Italian bishops' conference, who was set to meet Gadhafi late Monday, said he would raise the issue of migrants detained in Libya with him.

"I find it worrisome that we don't know anything about what happens to those desperate African people arrested by the Libyan police," Domenico Mogavero said.

To mark the anniversary, Gadhafi and Berlusconi were due Monday to tour a photography exhibition tracing the history of the Italian-Libyan relationship, including the bloody colonial period, officials said.

They were also expected to be among around 800 spectators at an equestrian show at the Tor di Quinto cavalry school in the north of the capital.

The Libyan colonel, who came to power after the overthrow of the monarchy 41 years ago on Wednesday, brought with him for the occasion 30 thoroughbred Berber horses and their riders, who flew in on a special plane.

He and Berlusconi are also expect to share iftar, the meal breaking the day's fast during the holy Islamic month of Ramadan.

Gadhafi travelled, as usual, with a Bedouin tent for his accommodation which was pitched in the gardens of the residence of the Libyan embassy in Rome.

In a sign of protest against his visit, an opposition party planted a "tent of legality" in front of the embassy.

Jewish Gratitude to the Catholic Church through Pope Pius XII during WWII

Here's what I've got from Catholic Apologetics: Jewish gratitude for the Help of Pope Pius XII who helped them against the perverse regime of the Nazis.

“The People of Israel will never forget”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Albert Einstein on the Catholic Church:

"Only the Catholic Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing the truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced thus to confess that what I once despised, I now praise unreservedly."

Dr Joseph Nathan, representing the Hebrew Commission in September 1945.

"We express our heartfelt gratitude to those who protected and saved us during the Nazi-Fascist persecutions. Above all, we acknowledge the Supreme Pontiff [Pope Pius Xll] and the religious men and women who, executing the directives of the Holy Father, recognised the persecuted as their brothers and with great abnegation, hastened to help them, disregarding the terrible dangers to which they were exposed."

A New York Times editorial of December 25, 1942, stated:

"The voice of Pius XII is a lonely voice in the silence and darkness enveloping Europe this Christmas.... He is about the only ruler left on the continent of Europe who dares to raise his voice at all."

Why 'Murder in the Vatican' Book should be read with Caution

A book by Lucien Gregoire entitled 'Murder in the Vatican' postulates that the Servant of God, Pope John Paul I died a violent death, and not through "heart attack" as the official pronouncement of the Vatican State.

Here's a sound reason why we need to read the book withs extreme CAUTION!, written by one of the few "Experts" on the subject "Pope/Papacy" -- Anura Guruge.

'Murder in the Vatican' Book
By: Anura Guruge

About ten days ago I received an e-mail from a relatively ‘involved’ follower of this blog informing me that he was reading the subject book, by Lucien Gregoire, and how that book had convinced him as to how far the Church will go to get rid of ‘undesirables’ — even if they were pope. I was appalled.

He wanted to know whether I was familiar with the book. Alas, I am. I read it, with much anticipation, in 2008. I was appalled. In reality very few books appall me and I, as an ever struggling writer, try to understand the challenges the author must have confronted.

What REALLY bugged me about this ‘book’ were the flagrant, factual errors.

To err is human. I make errors. I readily acknowledge them and repeatedly point out that fallibility has been my faithful handmaiden throughout my life. I did NOT know that there had been a religious order called the ‘Humiliati.’ So I screwed up when I said that only one religious order had been suppressed by a pope. [I have since fixed that.] I make lots typos. I type 1880 for 1800 and 1963 for 963. Most of my readers forgive me for these errors. Some even empathize.

But, the factual errors in this ‘book’ have a very distinct ‘flavor.’ Many do NOT come across as oversights. It just seems impossible to get something that WRONG.

Cardinal electors do NOT call out the name of the person that they voted for!

The ballots in a conclave are NOT counted in a private room!

Popes do not have to be elected by an unanimous vote!

To justify the factual errors in this book, I listed a few, with much reservations, in my ‘errors in books about popes‘ section. I just feel that this book is not worthy of being on that page! Yes, the other books have errors too, some more than others, but all of them are serious, credible books. This book does not meet MY credibility criteria. I cannot take this book seriously.

Yes, very early on I cottoned onto the ‘not so hidden’ auxiliary agenda of the author. I won’t comment on that.

I am also refraining from commenting, too much, on the subjective commentary in this ‘book’ since that is open to debate. I just want to point out the factual errors and just use that as my basis for treating this ‘book’ with disdain. Some of his comments bother me. Some of what he has to say about Good Pope John XXIII (#262), in my opinion, are highly contentious.

On page 126 he says that John Paul I’s father was ‘Givovanni Paulo’ [John Paul] — hence another rationale for his double-barreled name, the first in papal history. That is father was ‘Givovanni,’ is a given. I can’t find any references to it having been ‘Givovanni Paulo.’ It may have. It just seems strange that the pope didn’t mention that — particularly given that John XXIII made a point of stressing that ‘John’ also happened to be the name of his beloved father. John Paul I knew that, and like most, must have been touched. Then, not to mention it, if it was indeed the case, seems very incongruous. And that is my point.

As far as I recall, this book was inconclusive and very garbled as to what really happened to poor John Paul I. Given the factual errors, I would have had difficulty accepting any conclusions with convictions. That is the problem with credibility. Once you have blown your credibility, you have lost everything.

I have read quite a few books related to John Paul I, including: ‘In God’s name,‘ ‘The making of the 1978 popes,‘ ‘Pontiff,‘ ‘Vatican,‘ and ‘A thief in the night.‘ The last of these also disappointing, given that it proved to be frustratingly flaccid when it came to its ‘up in the air’ conclusions. But, I didn’t encounter any major factual errors that made to recoil — as was the case with the Lucien ‘book.’

I personally think the pope did have a heart attack. But, I could be wrong.

The bottom line here, please treat the subject ‘book’ with CAUTION. Take care to separate the facts from the fiction.

Why the "Cordoba Mosque" now Park 51 should not be there!

Megamosque to rise beside Ground Zero?

POSTSCRIPT By Federico D. Pascual Jr. (The Philippine Star) Updated August 29,

CORDOBA: Americans, especially New Yorkers, are grappling with the highly emotional question of whether or not to allow near Ground Zero the building of a megamosque packaged with an Islamic center originally called Córdoba House.

Ground Zero refers to the site of the World Trade Center twin towers that al-Queda terrorists destroyed by crashing jetliners into them on Sept. 11, 2001. Almost 3,000 persons were killed in that worst attack ever on the mainland US,

A number of Americans steeped in religious tolerance would allow Córdoba House (now renamed Park51 after its address on Park Place in Lower Manhattan, because of the emotional objections to “Córdoba”). But many others object.

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The Córdoba House, to cost $100 million, will be a 13-story glass and steel structure. Beside the mosque, it includes an auditorium, a performance arts theater, a fitness center, a swimming pool, children’s area, art studio, a food court, a 9/11 memorial, and prayer space for 2,000 people.

* * *

PROS & CONS: Córdoba House would replace an old Italianate-style building damaged in the 9/11 attacks — if the building erected in the 1850s is not given a “landmark” status and thus preserved.

The center’s sponsors said its original name was meant to invoke 8th-11th Century Córdoba, in Spain, which they called a model of peaceful coexistence among Muslims, Christians and Jews. The center, they added, would be a platform for interfaith dialogue.

But opponents said the name recalls the Islamic conquest of the Christian city of Córdoba. Other objections refer to the lack of transparency in its funding, and the center’s nearness (two blocks) to Ground Zero.

Polls have shown that a majority of Americans and residents of New York State and New York City oppose the center’s being built near Ground Zero, while a majority of Manhattan residents allow it.

* * *

PINOY MUSLIMS: Reacting to perceived threats and domestic police problems, some European countries have been reviewing their handling of Islamic inroads, as they have also started revising their immigration rules.

Here, we had a mini-controversy years ago when a mosque was proposed to be built in the Unimart area in Greenhills, San Juan, which has an unusual number of Muslim stallholders selling duty-free stuff.

An outcry from the generally Christian community shelved the idea.

But more than a decade ago in Quiapo, a “golden mosque” suddenly materialized without anybody sounding an alarm, or at least posting a notice. Now the Muslims eking out a living around it sometimes figure in police news stories.

* * *

MY FEELING: New York is too distant for us Filipinos to bother with, but the issues of religious freedom, cultural diversity, and America’s being a nation of immigrants cannot but draw us into the debate.

My feeling from the very beginning was that the Córdoba House was just too close to the memorial being built on the WTC site. It seemed to me that Islamic proponents of the center were taking advantage of America’s democratic tolerance.

I could not compose my thoughts on the issue until I came upon the statement attributed to former Speaker Newt Gingrich objecting to it. I agree with him, especially on the lack of reciprocity and the center’s closeness to Ground Zero.

* * *

NEWT’S OBJECTION: Here is Gingrich’s statement on Córdoba House:

“There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia . The time for double standards that allow Islamists to behave aggressively toward us while they demand our weakness and submission is over.

“The proposed ‘Córdoba House’ overlooking the World Trade Center site — where a group of jihadists killed over 3000 Americans and destroyed one of our most famous landmarks — is a test of the timidity, passivity and historic ignorance of American elites.

“For example, most of them don’t understand that ‘Cordoba House’ is a deliberately insulting term. It refers to Córdoba, Spain — the capital of Muslim conquerors who symbolized their victory over the Christian Spaniards by transforming a church there into the world’s third-largest mosque complex.

“Today, some of the Mosque’s backers insist this term is being used to ‘symbolize inter-faith cooperation’ when, in fact, every Islamist in the world recognizes Córdoba as a symbol of Islamic conquest. It is a sign of their contempt for Americans and their confidence in our historic ignorance that they would deliberately insult us this way.

“Those Islamists and their apologists who argue for ‘religious toleration’ are arrogantly dishonest. They ignore the fact that more than 100 mosques already exist in New York City. Meanwhile, there are no churches or synagogues in all of Saudi Arabia. In fact no Christian or Jew can even enter Mecca. And they lecture us about tolerance.

“If the people behind the Cordoba House were serious about religious toleration, they would be imploring the Saudis, as fellow Muslims, to immediately open up Mecca to all and immediately announce their intention to allow non-Muslim houses of worship in the Kingdom. They should be asked by the news media if they would be willing to lead such a campaign.

“We have not been able to rebuild the World Trade Center in nine years. Now we are being told a 13-story, $100-million megamosque will be built within a year overlooking the site of the most devastating surprise attack in American history.

“Finally where is the money coming from? The people behind the Córdoba House refuse to reveal all their funding sources. America is experiencing an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization. Sadly, too many of our elites are the willing apologists for those who would destroy them if they could.

“No mosque. No self deception. No surrender.

“The time to take a stand is now — at this site on this issue.”

* * *

Sagot kay Allan, Kaanib ng Iglesia ni Cristo (Part 12)

(Basahin ang Part 11)

Bumisita na naman po si G. allan, kaanib daw ng INC-1914 at nag-iwan na naman po siya komento na walang reference. Hindi po siya nagkokomento sa mga specific posts natin at pinili pa rin niyang mag-komento sa post na may pinamagatang Iglesia ni Cristo Converted to Catholicism.

Pinilit po nating kilalanin kung sino itong G. allan sa pamamagitan ng pag-click ng kanyang pangalan sa comments niya pero ito po ang lumabas na resulta.

Siya rin po ay NAGTATAGO katulad po ng kanyang kinaaanibang kulto- ang IGLESIA ni MANALO-- Walang pagkakakilanlan, walang official website, walang published doctrines and teachings, HINDI po HAYAG ang kanilang mga katuruan. Tanging ang mga katuruan nila ay nasa kanilang mga templo at naipapaliwanag LAMANG ng kanilang mga MINISTRO.

At ayon po sa PAMANTAYAN ni kay G. allan, "NAKAKASUKA" raw po ang may mga "LIHIM" na itinatago.

Amen po ako diyan.

Heto po ang pagpapakilala ni G. allan.

allan said... I am an Iglesia Ni Cristo too but to say that we are called manalista is an upfront and also evil to say. You say your a defender of the Catholic Church, that is natural to do and say for a Cathechist, did you ever think that saying manalista is also evil in the sight of God. Your way of defending seems humble but brutally not really in the realm of the Christian spirit. You should be called Catholic or katoliko because it is really based on your faith and not in the Holy Bible. Because the true church of Christ based her teachings in the Bible so thats why we are called Christians (Iglesia Ni Cristo). August 14, 2010 7:50 AM

Isang magandang pagkakataon sana mula kay G. allan na ipaliwanag dito kung bakit maling TAWAGIN silang MANALISTA.

Near Ground Zero Mega Mosque: Developer was once a Waiter turned Mogul overnight

Everyone thinks it was Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf who's behind the controversial "Mega Mosque" near Ground Zero. He was not. It was a certain El-Gamal, who was once a waiter turned a mogul overnight.

Read the article below.

No Answers from Developer of Mosque Near Ground ZeroEl-Gamal rose from waiter to real estate mogul

Updated: Wednesday, 25 Aug 2010, 2:06 PM EDT

Published : Tuesday, 24 Aug 2010, 10:42 PM EDT

by CHARLES LEAF

MYFOXNY.COM - While Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf has dominated headlines about the proposed cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero in lower Manhattan, developer Sharif el-Gamal, 37, is actually the central figure behind the project.

Yet just a few years ago, el-Gamal was waiting tables in some fancy Manhattan restaurants.

Naturally, we wanted to talk to Sharif el-Gamal to learn more about the man and his plans, but apparently he didn't want to meet us. We made repeated requests for a sit down interview with him, left him multiple voice mail messages and he never returned any of our calls. We even went to his office and talked to colleagues, but we were turned away. He left us with no choice: We had to go find him.

El-Gamal is an American Muslim reportedly born to a Polish mother and an Egyptian father. He was raised in Brooklyn.

Today, el-Gamal's company, Soho Properties, owns the building where arguably the most controversial mosque in the world will be built. He bought the old Burlington Coat Factory building at 45 Park Place, two blocks from the World Trade Center site, for $4.8 million in cash in 2009.

We asked him where he got the money to put down on the property, but he stayed silent when we approached him.

His newfound notoriety was an extraordinary leap from his not-too-distant days as a waiter at Serafina, a trendy Upper East Side eatery, and at Michael's, an upscale celebrity-filled restaurant packed with a veritable who's who in media.

El-Gamal's former restaurant bosses and co-workers told Fox 5 that the young and opportunistic el-Gamal thrived on the buzz from bumping elbows with marquee names and relished the opportunity to schmooze the high dollar clientele.

"Customers would come in and ask for him, he had his regulars," said Cosmo Sammarone, a Serafina waiter.

El-Gamal left Serafina in 2002 and started selling real estate. But in just a year, he went from broker to business owner and launched his own real estate company, Soho Properties, in 2003. Records show he is the president and chief executive officer.

A long-time associate of his says el-Gamal isn't quite who he seems to be. The associate asked Fox 5 to protect his identity because he fears retribution.

"I was pretty much in shock when I saw him on the news as the developer," the associate said. "What I can say about Sharif is nothing good.

He said el-Gamal liked living in the fast lane, meeting celebrities in the restaurants were he worked, and partying with them at nightclubs.

"Very persuasive, master manipulator," he said of el-Gamal.

Today, el-Gamal's holdings included at least four buildings in Manhattan, including the site near Ground Zero, one in Chelsea, and two residential buildings in Washington Heights, where tenants seem to like him.

Records show el-Gamal bought the Washington Heights properties in 2007 for a little less than $3 million each.

Ken Brandman, president of N.Y. Commercial Real Estate Services, knows el-Gamal well. He, too, was a bit surprised to hear el-Gamal is the developer in the mosque near Ground Zero.

"I don't think he has a lot of money," Brandman said. "I'm sure he didn't buy it with his own money."

Soho Properties bought the site for the mosque for $4.8 million in cash. Just four months later, with Manhattan's real estate market collapsed, el-Gamal made an even bigger deal.

With credit super tight, and prices plummeting, he paid $45 million for a 12-story commercial building in Chelsea that sold three years earlier for $31 million.

"It seems like a lot of pay in a downturn, considering it went for considerably less during the boom," said Stuart Elliott, the editor of Real Deal magazine.

El-Gamal, the waiter turned mogul, plunked down another $5 million as down payment on the Chelsea building.

"Something's up with that deal," Ken Brandman said. "Unless someone gave him a lot of money, or he won the lottery, than somebody else put up the money."

Fox 5 News has learned that el-Gamal did have help from a man named Hisham Elzanaty. Mortgage documents show that Elzanaty is the guarantor on the $39 million loan el-Gamal's company secured to buy the building.

We repeatedly asked El-Gamal where he raised the money, where it was coming from, but he refused to answer our questions and run from us. He also did not answer the question of whether he would consider relocating the mosque.

Objective Teaching of Religion: A Message to Muslims for Ramadan

Unlike the Catholic Church, Islam has no central figure who could dispense a central teachings on matter of Faith and Morals.  They do not have an equivalent to our "Pope".


Cardinal Jean Louis Tauran, President of the Vatican's Council for Inter-Religious dialogue with monotheistic religions urges Muslims in his Eid Fit'r message, as the end of Ramadan observation of Muslims around the world comes to an end around September 9 or 10 of this year to shun violence in the name of religion and avoid extremism.

Cardinal Urges Objective Teaching of Religion in Message to Muslims for Ramadan

(EWTN News)-(RV) “Violence among followers of different religions, is, unfortunately, a pressing subject, at least in certain areas of the world”, says Cardinal Jean Louis Tauran, President of the Vatican’s Council for Inter-religious dialogue. This is why - he adds in his message marking the Islamic feast of Id al-Fitr and the end of Ramadan – Christians and Muslims must work together to overcome it.

The theme for this years message was also the topic of discussions at the last meeting of the Pontifical Council and al-Azhar Permanent Committee for Dialogue among the Monotheistic Religions.

In his message published Friday, Cardinal Tauran shares the meeting’s conclusions. He notes the many causes for violence including: “the manipulation of the religion for political or other ends; discrimination based on ethnicity or religious identity; divisions and social tensions”, as well as “ignorance, poverty and underdevelopment”.

The Cardinal invites civil and religious authorities to “offer their contributions” for a solution “for the sake of the common good of all society” and calls on civil authorities to “safeguard the primacy of the law by ensuring true justice to put a stop to the authors and promoters of violence”.

Cardinal Tauran also urges Christians and Muslims “to recognize what we have in common and to respect differences, as a basis for a culture of dialogue”; he recalls “the importance of education towards respect” at home, in the school, in churches and mosques.

“Teaching by religious leaders, as well as school books which present religions in an objective way, have, along with teaching in general, a decisive impact on the education and the formation of younger generations”.

Only in this way, he concludes “we will be able to oppose violence among followers of different religions and promote peace and harmony among the various religious communities”.

Heretical Group called "Catholic Women Priests" spent monies for anti-Pope ad campaign in UK

So-called "Women Priests" Photo Credit: boston.com

In your dreams!

A dissident group calling themselves "Catholics" who are politically motivated are urging Pope Benedict XVI for the approval of ordaining "women priests".  They are most likely to be crying out  and no one is listening. They had paid huge amount of money in their campaign ads in the UK for their heretical cause. But sorry, yesterday, today and tomorrow, there IS very little chance for women to be ordained to the priesthood in the Catholic Church.  Accept it and move on.

In his Encyclical Letter in 1994 Blessed John Paul II [Ordinatio Sacerdotalis], clearly stated that: "Priestly ordination, which hands on the office entrusted by Christ to his Apostles of teaching, sanctifying and governing the faithful, has in the Catholic Church from the beginning always been reserved to men alone. This tradition has also been faithfully maintained by the Oriental Churches."

In other words, priestly ordination for women is a HERESY. It is AGAINST the SACRED TRADITION of the entire Universal Church.

It is a willful DEFIANCE against the Supreme Pontiff, a clear DISOBEDIENCE from the Church authority. These signs alone DO NOT reflect Catholicism and do not promote UNITY.

So I say, these dissenting heretics who called themselves 'CATHOLICS ORDAINED WOMEN PRIESTS" are NOT and will NEVER be members of the UNIVERSAL CHURCH OF CHRIST, unless they reform themselves, be humble, submit themselves to the authority of the Church, then they can only be members of the Mystical Body of Christ-- the Church.

"Ordain women," London bus ads will urge Pope

(Reuters) - Pope Benedict will be confronted by posters on London's famous red buses during his trip to the British capital next month which will call for the ordination of women priests.

Protests are planned throughout his four-day trip to England and Scotland, the first papal visit since John Paul II's pastoral visit in 1982 and the first-ever official papal visit to Britain.

One group of women, Catholic Women's Ordination (CWO), will have its message plastered on the side of the buses as they travel along key routes, including past Westminster Hall, at the Palace of Westminster, where the pope is set to deliver a speech to Britain's civic society on September 17.

The group has paid 15,000 pounds ($23,130) for 15 buses to carry the message "Pope Benedict - Ordain Women Now!" for a month.

"We do not want to be disruptive, but I think the church has got to change or it will not survive," CWO spokeswoman Pat Brown told Reuters.

"I am quite hopeful at the moment because I think the church is in disarray."

It also hopes to protest outside Lambeth Palace during a meeting between the pope and Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual head of the Church of England, the Anglican mother church.

Set up in 1993, the CWO describes itself as loyal to the Roman Catholic Church, campaigning from within for inclusivity and the ordination of women.

It was angered by a Vatican document last month which mentioned the ordination of women amid sweeping revisions of its laws against child sex abuse. The Vatican later denied accusations it viewed the two issues as equally criminal.

The CWO has also launched a group "Catholic Voices for Reform" to coincide with the pope's visit to counter "Catholic Voices," a media-friendly group which has the backing of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

They will go head-to-head on controversial matters such as child abuse, women's ordination, married priests, homosexuality and the way the church is run.

CWO will not be taking part in the main demonstration against the pope's visit, which is being organized under the umbrella banner "Protest the Pope," which includes humanists, secularists and gay rights campaigners.

Tens of thousands of Catholics are expected to attend the three major public events in Glasgow, London and Birmingham, with many lining the streets to greet the pope in his Popemobile.

-------------------------------------------------------
Related Article: Dissident Group Claims Three Women Ordained Priests

Iraqi Christians Ask for Our Prayers

The American Forces and its allies will be pulling out from Iraq this year leaving the war-torn country desolate with continuous threats of violence from warring faction often Christians caught in between.

Let us pay heed attention to the request of Archbishop Louis Sako, the Archbishop of Kirkuk, offering our prayers and sacrifices for them.

I wish to urge also our peace-loving Muslim brethren to add their voices to spare Christians from sectarian violence in the region. This is the right time for them to show true solidarity with the Catholic Church in its desire to promote peace and tolerance between our religions.

Iraqi archbishop warns minorities could be 'scapegoats' after US withdrawal

Rome, Italy, Aug 26, 2010 / 07:31 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Civil war could be on the horizon in Iraq, according to a high-ranking Catholic prelate in the country. Minorities, including Christians, would suffer most if that were the case, Archbishop of Kirkuk Louis Sako told SIR news on Thursday.

Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk, Iraq (Source: CNA)

As President Barack Obama brings the number of American troops in the Middle Eastern nation down to 50,000 by next Monday, Archbishop Sako told the Italian bishops' news agency that the future looks grim for the country's minorities.

"The war of 2003 turned Iraq upside down," said the archbishop, referring specifically to the nation's army, security, economy and national unity. He also lamented that the country has become polluted, corrupt and "intellectually impoverished" in recent years, the latter due to the loss of teachers who have been killed or fled the violence.

While granting that there is generally greater liberty in the country, he said that the movement towards democracy is "slow" due to the long-term plans of the U.S. government.

"It seems to me that the U.S. may have never wanted to resolve the problems of Iraq (by) fostering and protecting the formation of a strong government," he noted, adding that the pressure being exerted on the local government by neighboring nations is "worrying."

And with the U.S. withdrawal, he told SIR, "Iraqi fear of a civil war that could bring ethnic and religious division to the country is increasing."

He predicted that Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish factions would each be able to gather an army, while leaving the minorities as "the scapegoats of this situation."

The Rites of the Catholic Church

[Source: Catholic News Agency] - It may surprise most people to know that there are many different rites within the Catholic Church. Before discussing these rites it is important to note that different sources disagree on exactly what constitutes a rite and exactly how many there are.

A rite represents an ecclesiastical tradition about how the sacraments are to be celebrated. As the early Church grew and spread, it celebrated the sacraments as would be best understood and received in the context of individual cultures, without ever changing their essential form and matter. The early Church sought to evangelize in the major cultural centers of the first centuries A.D. These centers were Rome, Antioch (Syria), and Alexandria (Egypt). All the rites in use today evolved from the liturgical practices and ecclesiastical organization used by the churches in these cities.

The Church of Christ represented in these ecclesiastical traditions is known as a ritual church. The church in a certain territory is known as a particular church.

The Catholic Encyclopedia describes the situation this way: "Within the Catholic Church ... Canonical rites, which are of equal dignity, enjoy the same rights, and are under the same obligations. Although the particular churches possess their own hierarchy, differ in liturgical and ecclesiastical discipline, and possess their own spiritual heritage, they are all entrusted to the pastoral government of the Roman pontiff, the divinely appointed successor of St. Peter in the Primacy.

The Catechism lists seven rites. These rites so listed: Latin, Byzantine, Alexandrian, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite, and Chaldean,2 are actually families of liturgical expression. These rites are the descendants of the liturgical practices that originated in centers of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria. Each will be discussed in turn.

LATIN. The Pope has several titles. He is the Bishop of Rome, Vicar of the universal Church, Primate of Italy; hmong others. As the Bishop of Rome he is the head of the Latin or Roman rite. This is by far the largest rite in the Church. It was founded by St. Peter in Rome around 42 A.D. The current Eucharistic liturgy was handed down more or less intact from at least the 4th century. This was the liturgy used in Rome. There were other liturgies used in the West up to the Council of Trent (1526-1570). After the Council of Trent only the Roman liturgy could be used. The only exceptions were liturgical practices that were more than 200 years old.

The Pope is also vicar of these other liturgical rites that date from before the Council of Trent. These rites include the Mozarabic rite from Spain, the Ambrosian rite from Milan, Italy, named after St. Ambrose (340-397), the Bragan rite from Portugal, and the order liturgies of the Dominican, Carmelite, and Carthusian orders.

As Vicar of the universal Church, the Pope is shepherd of the rites of the West and the East. The eastern rites which have a separate code of canon law, are completely equal in dignity with the rites of the West. All of these eastern ritual churches come under the jurisdiction of the Pope through the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, one of the offices of the Roman Curia. The rites are administered by either a Patriarch, a Major Archbishop, a Metropolitan, or have some other arrangement. Patriarchs are elected by a synod of bishops of their rite, and then request ecclesiastical communion from the Pope. Major Archbishops are also elected by a synod of bishops of their rite, but then are approved by the Pope before they take office. Metropolitans are picked by the Pope from a list given by a synod of bishops.

BYZANTINE. The largest of these eastern rites is the Byzantine. The Byzantine liturgy is based on liturgy developed by St. James for the Antiochaian church, but modified by St. Basil (329-379) and St. John Chrysostom (344-407). This liturgy is similar if not identical to the liturgy used by the Orthodox churches. After the schism between the churches in Rome and Constantinople in 1054, many particular churches remained separated from Rome. Over the years some of these churches came back into union. These churches after they returned to the fold have generally been treated as separate rites based on their particular location, even though they have similar if not identical liturgy. The churches using the Byzantine liturgy include the Albanian, Belarussian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Greek, Hungarian, Italo-Albanian, Melkite, Romanian, Russian, Ruthenian, Slovak, and Ukrainian.

ALEXANDRIAN. The liturgy used by the church in Alexandria in Egypt is attributed to St. Mark the evangelist. This church became known as the Coptic church because Copt is the Arabic and Greek word for Egyptian. Before the Moslem invasion in 641 the Copts fell into heresy due to their rejection of the Council of Chalcedon (451). Through missionary work, some of these were brought back into union in recent years. Today there exists in Egypt the Coptic rite which is Orthodox and the Coptic rite that is loyal to the Bishop of Rome.

The Ge'ez rite based in Ethiopia is closely associated with the Coptic rite. Missionaries from Alexandria spread the faith in Ethiopia in the 4th century. The native language (Ge'ez) was used instead of Greek in the liturgy. The church in Ethiopia also fell into heresy after the Council of Chalcedon but was brought back through missionary efforts in the past few centuries. This is a very recently defined rite since the Metropolitan See was only established in 1961.

SYRIAC. The liturgy of the Syriac rite is attributed to St. James the Apostle. This liturgy was used by the church in Antioch in present day Syria. Many bishops in this area also broke away after the Council of Chalcedon. They stopped using Greek and used the Syriac language in their liturgy. The Syriac language is similar to Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. Through the work of Jesuit and Capuchin missionaries many members of this rite returned to union with Rome, including the Patriarch of this rite in 1781.

The Malankarese rite developed in India. They trace their Christian lineage to St. Thomas the Apostle who traveled to South India and founded a church. This rite was in union with the Assyrian (Chaldean) church which had fallen into the Nestorian heresy after the Council of Ephesus in 431. This church was "discovered" by Portuguese missionaries in the 16th century. After attempts to "latinize" the rite, many broke away to form their own rite under the control of the Syrian Patriarch. In the 1920's and 30's four bishops of this rite were reunited with Rome, and many members of their rite followed. This rite is located in Kerala State, India.

ARMENIAN. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as the state religion in the 4th century. They used the Antiochine liturgy of St. James said in the Armenian language. At that time Armenia was located in eastern Turkey. After it was destroyed in the 11th century it moved to Cilicia (southern Turkey). That is why to this day the Patriarch of this rite is known as the Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians. The Armenians also fell into heresy after the Council of Chalcedon. The Council of Florence in 1439 declared reunion with the Armenians, and Pope Benedict XIV confirmed the first Patriarch in 1742. The Turks massacred roughly two million Armenians at the end of World War I. Most members of this rite live in Lebanon.

MARONITE. The Maronite rite traces its origins to the work of St. Maron in the 4th century who founded a monastery east of Antioch. Later monks moved to the mountains in what is today Lebanon. This rite never fell into heresy and was only separated from Rome by the political reality of Moslem or Ottoman occupation. The Maronites use a hybrid liturgy based on the Antiochian St. James. Maronites make up 17% of the population of Lebanon and by the law of that country the president of Lebanon is always a Maronite.

CHALDEAN. The people in modern day Iran and Iraq were once known as the Assyrians. The church established itself there very early but the people in this area fell into the heresy of Nestorianism in the 5th century. After missionary efforts many returned to union with Rome, and in 1553 Pope Julius III proclaimed the first Patriarch of the Chaldeans. Chaldean is the biblical term used for those from Babylon. Today the Patriarch of this rite located in Bagdad, Iraq where most of the members of this rite live.

SYRO-MALABAR: The Malabar rite is based in India. Its members are descendants of the Thomas Christians and could be called a brother rite to the Malankarese. The Malabar rite never broke with Rome despite the conflict with the Portuguese in the 16th century. They are generally grouped with the Chaldean family of rites because the Assyrian (later called Chaldean) church provided their bishops until the Portuguese took over that task. Also their liturgy was originally in the Syriac language which the Chaldean church used. Although an ancient rite, it had no single administrator until Pope John Paul II appointed a Major Archbishop in 1992.

All the rites of the Catholic Church are of equal dignity and equally valid. Attendance at a different rite fulfills the Sunday obligation. The Catholic Church is truly universal since it unites so many diverse rites, whose members share a common faith.

Sagot kay Allan, Kaanib ng Iglesia ni Cristo (Part 11)

(Basahin ang Part 10)

Paulit-ulit at nakakasawang sagutin na ang mga comments ni G. allan, kaanib ng INC-1914 dito sa ating post na pinamagatang Iglesia ni Cristo Converted to Catholicism:

allan said... kahit ang kapatid na Felix Manalo ang nagpasimulang magbalangkas ng mga aral ng INC ay hindi s kanya mismo ang mga aral o aral ng tao ang sinasampalatayanan ng INC kung hindi lahat ay nakabatay sa mga Banal na kasulatan at ang lahat ng aral ng Dios n kanyang iminulat sa lahat ng mga kapatid s INC ay ibang iba sa mga gawa gawang aral lamang ng tao sa mundo kya magkakalaban sila s espiritu. S katotohanan ang kanyang panga2ral ay may tatak ng espiritu santo kaya kahit anong gawing pagatake sa kanya ay hindi kailan man nanaig kung hindi nalipol ang mga maling aral n naglipana sa mundo kya ito ang napakapapagtunay ng higit na dakilang pagibig ng Dios sa tao para makaalis siya sa napakasakit na kahihinatnan ng mga taong hindi Cristiano o Iglesia ni Cristo pagdating ng araw ng paghuhukom. August 26, 2010 11:37 AM

Para wala na tayong pagpapaliguy-ligoy pa, tanging sila-sila na lamang ang ating pasasagutin mula sa kanilang PASUGO:

UKOL SA TUNAY NA IGLESIA

1- PASUGO Mayo 1963, p. 13:

“Noong tumalikod ang bayang Israel at sumamba sa diyus-diyosan ay nagsugo ang Dios upang magtatag ng Iglesia"

How Mother Teresa's 100th Birthday is Being Celebrated

Blessed Teresa is Being Honored Worldwide

Share by Tim Drake from National Catholic Register

While the Empire State Building won’t be lit up in the blue and white colors of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, there are many other ways that Mother Teresa’s 100th birthday – August 26 - is being honored worldwide.

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, who originally asked for the Empire State Building to be lighted, instead will hold a rally outside the Empire State Building on behalf of Mother Teresa on August 26.

Meanwhile, the Peace Bridge, on the Niagara River in New York, and the Hutchinson Metro Center’s two office buildings in the Bronx will be lit blue and white.

Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan. is not only lighting several campus buildings in blue, but is also naming its new nursing program building in honor of Mother Teresa. The grand opening of the Mother Teresa Center for Nursing and Health Education will take place on Aug. 26 at 12:15 p.m. Several campus buildings, including St. Benedict’s Abbey Church tower and St. Scholastica Hall tower, will be lit from Aug. 25 to Sept. 5 (the day of her death). The campus is launching its “Do Something Beautiful for God” college ministry program, will host a block party for students in honor of Mother Teresa’s birthday, and is installing an original oil painting of Blessed Teresa in the Mother Teresa Center. The college will also say a prayer for the canonization of Blessed Mother Teresa at the first home football game.

Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, Calif. will mark the day with a memorial Mass at 11:30 a.m. and by publishing videos from her visit and Commencement Address at the school in 1982. The videos will remain online through Blessed Teresa’s Feast Day, Sept. 5.

“We will long remember the honor of Bl. Mother Teresa’s visit to Thomas Aquinas College,” says President Michael F. McLean, who noted that the saintly foundress of the Missionaries of Charity visited only three colleges during her 1982 trip to the United States. “We join the faithful everywhere in thanking God for her example of humble service to ‘the poorest of the poor,’ in whom she saw Christ in ‘His most distressing disguise.’”

The Hindustan Times reports that Indian publisher Amar Chitra Katha will publish a comic book about Mother Teresa. The 40-page comic book will tell the story of how Mother Teresa came to India and about her life serving the poorest of the poor. It’s based on stories told to ACK Media by Sister Gertrude, one of the first sisters to join Mother Teresa.

“She recalled several inspiring instances, which are lesser known and authentic,” said Reena Puri, editor of ACK Media. “She became a key source of information for us. Without her assistance, the book wouldn’t have materialized.”

A new book featuring writings from Blessed Teresa is being published. “Where There is Love, There is God: A Path to Closer Union with God and Greater Love for Others” was edited by Brian Kolodiejchuk.

In the U.S., the Mother Teresa postage stamp is being issued. Similar stamps are being issued in Austria, Kosovo, and Monaco. France is issuing four collector-edition coins, one which shows Mother Teresa with Pope John Paul II.

The Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven, CT is hosting the American premiere exhibit of Mother Teresa: Life, Spirituality and Message,

And, the Mother Teresa International Film Festival is being held Aug. 26-29 in Kolkata, India.

The Mother Teresa Express Train will be launched on her birthday in India.

In Rome, Cardinal Angelo Comastri, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, is presiding over a Mass in the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Damascus. The celebration will be preceded by the opening of an exhibition of photographs, titled Blessed Teresa of Calcutta: Life, Works, Message.

Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation of Peoples, is marking her liturgical feast with a vigil of prayer on Saturday, Sept. 4, and a Eucharistic celebration on Sunday, Sept. 5.

An extensive list of celebrations and initiatives can be found online at the Mother Teresa of Calcutta Center.

“Her life and work continue to be an inspiration for young and old, rich and poor from all walks of life, religions and nations,” said Sr. M. Prema M.C., Superior General.

The Hindu: Mother Teresa Converted non-Christians to be better followers of their own religion

Nuns from Missionaries of Charity paying tribute to
Mother Teresa during mother's birth centenary celebrations in Bhopal on Tuesday.
Photo Source: The Hindu

On The HINDU newspaper

"She [Mother Teresa of Calcutta] was criticised for conversion. Yet in all the 23 years I knew her she never once whispered a suggestion regarding conversion. However, I asked her if she did convert. Without a moment's hesitation, she said, “I convert. I convert you to be a better Hindu, a better Muslim, a better Protestant, and a better Sikh. Once you have found God, it is up to you to do with him as you wish.” While she never deviated an inch from her path and was a religious, not a social worker, she was quick to realise that in India, Catholicism was practised by a small segment, and the 19th century proselytising approach could not be sustained."

Egyptian Catholic Convert from Islam Refused Asylum by the Obama Administration

(Source: Catholic Exchange)

On August 19, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty intervened in a high-profile asylum case at the federal Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. Walid Salama and his wife and child face deportation back to Egypt despite a documented history of physical attacks by both the police and Salama’s family members due to the fact that Salama was formerly Muslim and his wife is a Christian. Mr. Salama’s conversion to Catholicism makes him even more of a target. The Becket Fund filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that Mr. Salama should receive asylum.

“The Department of Homeland Security says it can’t tell the difference between a convert who deserves asylum and just another religious minority,” stated Becket Fund National Litigation Director Eric Rassbach. “But Mr. Salama’s relatives sure can — they repeatedly beat Mr. Salama, tried to kidnap Mr. Salama’s wife, vandalized their car, and tried to kill their baby daughter. They consider converts to be traitors to Islam and therefore deserving of death, and the police have been complicit in Mr. Salama’s torment. If Mr. Salama is forced to return to Egypt he will not survive.”

The Becket Fund’s brief argues that the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to deny asylum and send Salama back to Egypt completely disregarded copious evidence that details the persecution of both Christians and Christian converts from Islam in Egypt, as well as Mr. Salama’s own testimony of having faced violence and death threats. The brief also points out that asylum is required where governments refuse to protect religious minorities from private violence, and that under American law, being forced to conceal one’s faith is by itself grounds for asylum.

“In this country, if the local sheriff sits on his hands while a lynch mob attacks a minority, we’d call it an outrage and a crime,” said Rassbach. “But DHS doesn’t seem to care that Mr. Salama, as a convert to Christianity, faces the same fate should he be forced to return to Egypt.”

--------------------------------
Other Interesting Articles:
Former Catholic Convert to Islam: Study Islam and Leave It
Interview With Archbishop Samir Nassar
Why so Few Muslims Convert to Christianity

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta: 26 August 1910 - 26 August 2010

What It Means To Be Blessed

For many, even in the Church, the Catholic practice of beatifying and canonizing is an enigma. Why does the Church do it? How does the Church do it? What are the implications of being canonized, or in the case of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, beatified?

General History.

First it should be noted that according to the testimony of Sacred Scripture every Christian is a saint. The Greek New Testament speaks in many places of the hagios (Acts 9:32; Rom 15:25, 31; Eph 1:1; Col. 1:2; Jude 1:3 and others). The Latin Vulgate speaks of the sancti, which is rendered in some English translations as the saints and in others as the holy ones. As St. Peter tells Christians, "you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." The saints are set apart by God through baptism, filled with His divine life (the Kingdom of God within), and called to announce that Kingdom's presence in the world to the whole human race. Thus it is that in the Scriptural usage all of those baptized into Christ and in the state of grace can rightly be called saints.

In another sense, stricter and more technical, the saints are those in whom Christ's victory over sin, the devil and death has not just begun, as it has in us, but has been completed. This is the case when the wayfaring state of earthy life is concluded and the holiness of life attained in the pilgrim's state is realized perfectly in heaven. Even while saying that no one is truly good but God (Mt 19:17), Christ called us to the perfection of goodness, of holiness, "be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt 5:48, Mt 19:21; Col. 4:12, James 1:4), since nothing imperfect will enter into heaven (Rev 21:27)...

Read More at EWTN on Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Basic Rights for our Children: Keep Fathers and Mothers within our Families

Photo Source: CatholicOnline.org

Q: What's ODD with this photo?
A: A baby with two fathers and without a mother.

How The 'Ground Zero Mosque' Controversy Is Challenging Democracy

Abigail R. Esman (Source: Forbes.com)

(Abigail R. Esmanis a freelance writer based in New York and the Netherlands. Her most recent book is Radical State: How Jihad Is Winning Over Democracy in the West.)

It isn't for the reasons that you think.

She said what? They did what?

As the pandemonium over the project alternately dubbed "the mosque at Ground Zero" or "the mosque near Ground Zero" (depending on your point of view) grows louder and more cacophonous, the stakes grow ever higher--and the outrageousness and outrage more severe. Not only has the project taken over the debate at cocktail parties: It has taken over the political debate as well. And just as has happened in Europe, American democratic principles as a result are now at risk.

Hyperbole? I don't think so.

Some contend that opposition to the mosque is itself anti-American, a violation of the right to practice one's religion--all religions. But that's a false argument. No one has oppressed the practice of Islam. No one has suggested that Muslims may not pray. They have simply argued that this place--this specific place--is not the right place, just as prayer is banned from public schools.

Rather, the attack on democracy has come from those who support the project, beginning earlier this month with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's endorsement of what then was called "Cordoba House." Since when do politicians intervene in religious issues in this country? (Some have argued that President Obama also expressed approval, though I disagree: Rather, he observed the legal right of the prospective founders to build it but wisely stopped short of offering an opinion.) Subsequently, other politicians, both Republican and Democrat, both for and against, have entered the fray. None of them belong there.

More recently, the politics grew even more appalling: Last week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi proposed investigating the funding of those who oppose the project--including, I suppose, private citizens like me. I can almost hear Joe McCarthy cheering from his grave. Has Pelosi spent so many years in politics that she cannot imagine people holding viewpoints nobody has paid for? Who has paid for hers?

Here's one possibility: Sheikh Al-Waleed bin Talal. After 9/11, Al-Waleed offered $10 million in aid to New York City--but only after first blaming Americans themselves for the attacks, a viewpoint Feisal Rauf, Cordoba House's leader and the imam of the mosque-to-be, evidently shares. (Then-mayor Rudy Giuliani refused the gift.) After all, Al-Waleed, who has donated $27 million to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers and sponsored telethons for their cause, appears to share Pelosi's view: He has given $305,000 to the project. (Yes, I know Al-Waleed is also a primary shareholder of Fox News; I'm disgusted by that too.)

Also last week, Imam Rauf began a tour of the Middle East on behalf of the U.S. State Department. Yes, a religious leader is now an official representative for the United States. Could the State Department really not find another Muslim for the job? Should U.S. taxpayers really be subsidizing the travels of a cleric? Has the U.S. ever sent a rabbi, say, to Palestine or Israel, or a Catholic priest to Britain or Ireland? (This last is a sincere question: I honestly don't know.)

Officials insist that Rauf will not be soliciting funds during this trip, and therefore that the American taxpayers are not funding his fundraising. But let's be realistic. Fundraising is not done in a single meeting. It is done by building relationships. And while in the Middle East, courtesy of U.S. taxpayers, Rauf will be meeting people he would not otherwise have met. And he will be building relationships with them, because that is what he has been sent over there to do. Inevitably, one if not more of these people will offer to subsidize his project, either now or in the very near future. So unless the U.S government prohibits everyone Rauf meets during this trip to send monies to the project--which it cannot do--then yes, the U.S. government--or rather, you and I--has funded this trip, which is, indeed, a fundraising mission for Park51 aka Cordoba.

Let's talk about that "Park51" moniker for a moment. Until a couple of weeks ago, when people started recognizing the implications, the project was called "Cordoba." Then Rauf and his wife, Daisy Kahn, went on a PR binge, and the name magically changed overnight into one worthy of a top ad agency campaign: Park51. It has the allure and cachet of "Park Avenue," of course, and the chic of a nightclub like Studio54. But a mosque by any other name is still a mosque, and a bad idea is still a bad idea no matter what you call it.

And it is a bad idea--one that just keeps getting worse. For Rauf and his entourage, there is no backing down: As Muslims, they have their all-important "honor" to preserve. They will not give. They will simply force their will. Meantime, those opposed remain opposed, and many increasingly find Rauf's intractability aggressive, even threatening. Chances are, if or when Cordoba/Park51 is built, confrontations will flare. Someone will get hurt. We can nearly guarantee it.

So yes, Speaker Pelosi: I think it is a terrible idea, a catastrophic idea that has already infiltrated the very freedoms you and others who support this operation claim to be defending. And it will get worse.

And before you violate my personal affairs on this, let me reassure you: No one is calling for a ban on Muslim worship. Some of us simply are insulted. Others are afraid. No one paid us to feel that way. They only had to live their lives: make a film, like Theo van Gogh; write an article, like Steven Vincent, or a book, like Salman Rushdie; draw a cartoon, like Kurt Westergaard; ask a question, like Daniel Pearl; or simply be: in the wrong place, at the wrong time, on a certain sunny September morning.

Lutheran Pastor Becomes a Catholic Priest

Source: VIMEO

On July 30, 2006, Sten Sandmark, a Swedish Lutheran pastor, abjured Protestantism in the church of St. Nicolas du Chardonnet, in Paris (France).

Ordained priest after 4 years of seminary studies in Zaitzkofen, he celebrated, on Sunday, August 15, in the same church, his firts solemn mass.


Interview with Sten Sandmark from DICI on Vimeo.

Sagot kay Allan, Kaanib ng Iglesia ni Cristo (Part 10)

(Basahin ang Part 9)

Walang kasawa-sawa itong si G. allan, kaanib ng INC-1914 na ibilad ang kanyang kamangmangan sa kasaysayan at Iglesia Katolika na "siyang tunay na Iglesia ni Cristo" ayon sa PASUGO Abril 1966, p. 46.

Ang kanyang comments ay natatagpuan sa post nating pinamagatang: Iglesia ni Cristo Converted to Catholicism.

Hindi na natin kailangan pang patulan ang iba pang mga sinasabi nitong kaanib ng Iglesia ni Cristo sapagkat wala naman siyang binibigay na "REFERENCE" upang maging makabuluhan ang ating talakayan.

Guguhitan ko na lamang ang mga nakikita kong mga dapat na masagot sa HINABA-HABA ng kanyang sinasabi.

August 25, 2010 10:08 AM allan said... Yan ba ang mga patutsada mo naman talagang mapapahiya ka kung may mga Pasugo rin na magpapaliwanag ng talagang mga nakalagay sa mga sinasabi ng mga talata niyan, Diba nasabi ko na sa iyo na talagang iba ang interpretasyon ng aming kalaban diyan including you and some cohorts of yours. Ikaw lang ba ang may pasugo? At hindi rin ba iyan ang sinabi ng mga lumaban sa debate sa Pilipinas at sa ibang bansa pero napahiya at nalantad sila ng ipaliwanag sa kanila ang Pasugo issues. Ang INC ang naglimbag at nagsulat ng mga articles n yan kaya sila dpat ang mag paliwanag yan kya ganyan nga ang ngyari at lalo ngang nahayag ang baluktot at napakamalisyosong pagatake nila kaya marami sa kanila lalo na sa mga debate ang napahiya di lamang sa kapwa ninyo katoliko kung hindi lalo lamang pinatunayan nito ang kamangmangan ninyo at maling pagppakahulugan sa anumang nakasulat n mga babasahing inilimbag ng INC. Sna mapanood mo yung mga debate para naman matauhan ka hindi ba at hindi talaga ito pagaalipusta dahil inilalagay ko lang ang sarili ko sa iyo na dating bulag na sumusunod sa mga aral ng ICAR. Ung mga sinabi mo ngang mga aklat ng ICAR di ba nasabi ko sa mga comments ko na may mga aral at aklat na nilimbag ng ICAR na kinakalaban at pinapahiya mismo ang iba ring mga aklat katoliko katulad ng mga depinisyon mo sa mga idolatry na kinakalaban naman ng ibang mga aklat ng ICAR. Sabi ko sa iyo basahin mo ang mga libro kong nabanggit. Hindi kasi alam ng mga katoliko yaon hindi ba at itatangi mo na naman di ba talagang mga bulag ang mga katoliko.

Very entertaining po itong si G. allan. Hindi ko akalaing magaling pala siyang magpatawa.

Non-Christians Venerate Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Tibetan leader: “The Dalai Lama tells Buddhists to follow the path of Mother Teresa".

by Nirmala Carvalho

Samdhong Rinpoche reveals the importance of the Blessed of Calcutta for Tibetan Buddhism. "For us, the Mother is the incarnation of Maha Karuna (immeasurable compassion). For her, no one was unreachable. The Dalai Lama had the deepest admiration and respect for Mother. "

New Delhi (AsiaNews) – Continuing our review of testimonies on Mother Teresa of Calcutta promoted by AsiaNews, a few days from the centenary of the birth of the Blessed. On August 26 the anniversary of the Missionary of Charity will be celebrated.

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Photo Source: AsiaNews

Samdhong Rinpoche, 71, has lived in exile in India since 1959, when he fled from Tibet due to Chinese government repression. On July 29, 2001, he was elected prime minister of the Tibetan government in exile by civilians who had fled from Tibet. Below his interview with AsiaNews:

How was Mother Teresa viewed by Tibetan Buddhists?

She represents love without distinction and compassion for all humanity. For Tibetan Buddhism, the Mother is the incarnation of Maha Karuna (immeasurable compassion). Everyday love has a reason: we love our family, friends ... But the love of Mother Teresa is the divine love for all human beings. And Mother's love was expressed through humble service.

Mother Teresa served the people, she transfigured the face of suffering humanity through her love and compassion. For her, no one was unreachable, she touched the poorest of the poor with her soul and gave them a reason to live and dignity.

What kind of relationship was there between Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama?

The Dalai Lama admired Mother Teresa and had the deepest respect for her. After meeting her, he said she was an example of a compassionate person. Often he told Buddhist monks and nuns to follow the example of Mother Teresa and serve the poorest of the poor in an imitation of her spirit, her compassion and her dedication.

The Dalai Lama also said that the spirit, compassion and dedication of Mother Teresa would continue to lead the human community.

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Catholics Venerate the Saints and Angels as oppose to those anti-Catholics and cults who accuse Catholics of "worshipping" them.

Fatwa Chaos

A Philippine Muslim woman puts an 'X' mark on a placard with a picture of former president and presidential candidate Joseph Estrada during a rally in Taguig, south of Manila on 23 March 2010, that supports the religious edict or 'fatwa' recently issued by a group of Islamic scholars and elders in the south that declared Estrada an enemy of Islam. (Photo Source: Al Majalla)

(The Majalla) - The issuing of fatwas, or religious rulings, by sometimes badly trained Islamic scholars is proliferating all across the Muslim world. The purposes of some of these fatwas, which are supposed to be based in the knowledge and wisdom of those who issue them, are quite disturbing and are tarnishing the image of Islam. For Muslim governments, this expansion of fatwa-issuing is becoming a growing concern.

RIYADH–A well-known Saudi religious scholar recently advised that a woman could become kin to a man—and thus be alone with him without violating the Islamic ban on gender mixing—by giving him five sips of her breast milk. This religious ruling, or fatwa, followed one in Somalia prohibiting Muslims from watching the soccer World Cup; one in Malaysia saying Muslims should not do yoga; two in Egypt, one saying married couples should not disrobe when having sex and the other one labeling Facebook users sinners; and one in Pakistan forbidding polio vaccination because it’s a Western plot to harm Muslims.

These rulings on trivial matters are not the most disturbing fatwas these days. Far more worrisome are takfir rulings, which declare someone an apostate from Islam, usually to justify killing him. Takfir rulings, favored by extremist groups like Al-Qaeda, first came to prominence in the West in 1989 when Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa sanctioning the murder of British author Salman Rushdie for his controversial novel Satanic Verses. The writer spent many years in hiding as a result.

Questionable religious rulings, sometimes by badly trained Islamic scholars, are proliferating in Islam, tarnishing the image of this global faith. This fatwa chaos, as some Muslims call it, stems from Islam’s lack of a central authority comparable to, for example, the Roman Catholic Church’s Vatican. For centuries, this wasn’t a problem because most people could not read and write. They were content to follow the religious advice of scholars respected within their communities.

But the explosion of literacy and global communications created conditions in which more Muslims could aspire to be fatwa-issuing scholars, and transmit those rulings to a wide audience—sometimes with political agendas. In remarks to a January 2009 international conference of Muslim scholars in Mecca, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz lamented that “the Islamic world has been plagued by an extremely negative phenomenon, which is the tendency to deliver fatwas by unqualified persons, especially on satellite television channels, the Internet and other modern channels of communication … Issuing ill-considered fatwas without following any criterion offers biased, ignorant, extremist or careless individuals the opportunity to pose as religious experts qualified to issue fatwas,” added the king. The modern proliferation of fatwas raises a key question: When is a fatwa a fatwa, and when is it just the personal opinion of someone who calls himself a sheikh?

Traditionally, fatwas addressed major life issues and were presented by a scholar after careful consideration of Islamic scriptures, prior relevant rulings, and the current conditions in which Muslims lived. But today, many “rulings” are issued on the spur of the moment by scholars in response to questions called in by television viewers. For Muslim governments, this expansion of fatwa-issuing is a growing concern because it challenges the state’s authority and control. And “battling” contradictory fatwas confuse their citizens.

Saudi Arabia, once a bastion of carefully controlled fatwa-giving, has sought for more than a year now to resolve this predicament. Its most far-reaching move came in the first week of Ramadan when King Abdullah issued a royal order that only clerics on the Council of Senior ‘Ulema, a body of religious scholars appointed by the king, are permitted to issue fatwas on matters of public concern. The decree does not apply to personal fatwas that address specific issues for individuals. "All those who violate this order subject themselves to accountability and punishment, whoever they are, because the interests of the religion and the nation are above anything else," the decree warned.

A few weeks prior to the king’s order, the Council of Senior ‘Ulema had announced that it is setting up regional panels to issue fatwas in each of the kingdom’s 14 provinces. The idea is that residents of the provinces should go to these official panels for religious guidance. The measure comes just months after the Ministry of Islamic Affairs banned the issuing of fatwas by anyone not on the Council of Senior ‘Ulema—a ban widely ignored.

Earlier, in January 2009, the Saudi-led Muslim World League sponsored an international gathering of scholars in Mecca to establish guidelines for issuing fatwas. “The occupation of issuing religious edicts,” stated its final communiqué, “should not be looked upon as a mere office for expressing personal opinion.” Addressing takfir fatwas, it also cautioned Muslims “to take every possible precaution not to call an individual Muslim infidel as it is not permissible at all...unless he commits an act that clearly violates Islam.”

Another major effort by the Saudi government will occur in September when Al-Imam Muhammad bin Saud University stages an international conference on takfir aimed at limiting fatwas on this topic to scholars allied with Muslim governments. Saud Al-Sarhan, a Saudi doctoral student specializing in the kingdom’s Islamist community, said he doubts these efforts to control fatwa-giving will be successful, partly “because it’s a big business” now as “every TV channel” has fatwa-issuing programs with their own scholars.

The breast milk fatwa, which came from Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Al-Obeikan, an advisor to the royal court, was an entirely novel interpretation of an ancient story in Islamic tradition and of an old custom in which Muslim women breastfeed an infant so the child becomes the equivalent of her own. The fatwa was met with outrage from all quarters in the kingdom and sparked ridicule of Islam by non-Muslim commentators. But weird fatwas like these are not the only ones causing controversy in the kingdom. Rulings that please progressive Muslims often draw fire from conservatives. That was the case, for example, with Sheikh Ahmed Al- Ghamdi’s ruling in December that Islam allows men and women to mingle in public places like universities. And more recently, conservatives were upset by Riyadh scholar Adel Al-Kalbani’s finding that singing is permissible as long as lyrics are decent. Al-Kalbani later reversed himself, telling Al-Hayat newspaper he had been wrong.

Official scholars denounced such rulings and the Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Aal Al-Sheikh, told a religious television station that "those who offer abnormal fatwas which have no support from the Quran should be halted." Other conservative sheikhs resorted to personal attacks, calling authors of such fatwas “ignorant” scholars who risk going to hell.

Observing this fatwa chaos, Abdullah Bajad Al-Otaibi suggested that ordinary Muslims do their part to stop it. “The permissible and the non-permissible are quite often self-evident and may be resolved through the application of commonsense,” Al-Otaibi, who writes about Islamic affairs, said in an essay in the Saudi Gazette. “People do not need to solicit a fatwa for each and everything they do,” he added. “It is rather strange and unfortunate that people have become so reliant on fatwas that they do not try to think for themselves.”