When is the Pope going to boost Christianity? I guess he feels no need to do so, as he is already a moderate Christian.
And if this school to train moderate imams is so successful, why do so many Islamic State jihadis come from Morocco? The Associated Press reported on February 10 that despite the existence of this institute to train moderate imams, “Moroccans have made up an unusually large number of Islamic State fighters.”
Pope Francis last year met in the Vatican with Dr. Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, the secretary general of the Muslim World League (MWL), a group that has been linked to the financing of jihad terror.
During the meeting, al-Issa thanked the Pope for his “fair positions” on what he called the “false claims that link extremism and violence to Islam.” In other words, he thanked the Pope for dissembling about the motivating ideology of jihad terror, which his group has been accused of financing, and for defaming other religions in an effort to whitewash Islam.
Also, Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Cairo’s al-Azhar, thanked the Pope for his “defense of Islam against the accusation of violence and terrorism.”
Has any other Pope of Rome in the history of Christianity ever been heralded as a “defender of Islam”? Shouldn’t he instead be defending the Christians who are being persecuted in Muslim countries?
“Leave them; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14)
“Pope hopes to boost Morocco’s moderate Islam vision,” Reuters, March 31, 2019:
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis makes a lightning trip to Morocco this weekend to promote inter-religious dialogue and support efforts by the North African country’s King Mohammed VI to spread a moderate form of Islam….
Morocco, which is nearly 100 percent Muslim, has marketed itself as an oasis of religious tolerance in a region torn by militancy – and has offered training to Muslim preachers from Africa and Europe on what it describes as moderate Islam.
Shortly after he arrives on Saturday, Francis and the king will visit an institute the monarch founded in 2015 for the training of imams and male and female preachers of Islam. The Vatican said it will be the first time a pope visits such a school.
The king founded the school, which is named after him, and it is attended by students from Africa and Europe.
“The king is very committed to containing fundamentalist tendencies and this is a very significant place, not only for Morocco, but for all of the Maghreb,” Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti told reporters at a briefing on the trip on Thursday….
In a video message to Moroccans, Francis said he was making the trip as a “a pilgrim of peace and of fraternity, in a world which has great need of both”. He said Christians and Muslims had to respect each other’s diversity and help each other….
“Even if some people practice their faith, there are may be some frustrations,” said Bonkoulou Loubaki Daria Thiphaine, a social worker from Congo Brazzaville who has been living in Morocco for 14 years.
“Yes, they go to churches but they ask themselves what is really the proof that Morocco accepts us as Christians? I think that with the pope’s visit, everyone will understand that even if Morocco is a Muslim country, Christians are welcome here”, she said.
“Foreign Christians” such as Thiphaine and Moroccan Jews, who are recognised by the constitution, are allowed to worship openly. But the authorities do not recognise Moroccan converts to Christianity and many of those worship secretly in homes.
Conversion from Islam to Christianity is banned – as it is in many Muslim countries – and proselytising is punishable by up to three years in prison….
CogitoErgoSum says
Well, I hope they open their meeting with a prayer to Jesus.
somehistory says
The pope would be so “phobic” if he did that. He has to be sensitive to the moslims…always… and do as they wish him to do until they decide it’s time for him to “go.”
CogitoErgoSum says
True, he needs to keep in mind what happened to Asia Bibi when she started talking about Jesus.
somehistory says
He should move on over and show the “herdsmen” who regularly torch, burn and kill, those whom the pope is supposed to be assisting, just what it means to be “moderate” moslims while they are slaughtering Christians in Nigeria.
He is a tool of the devil and he will reap what he is sowing.
Trish says
The “Pope ” is FAKE . A One World Order puppet. I think we all know this by now .
K WAGNER says
CHRISTIANOPHOBIA…..
Niemoller says
He’s no Francis in reality, he’s Pope Judas of Iscariot, the popeaster (like poetaster) communist who dedicated his life to destroying Catholicism from within.
Trish says
The Roman Catholic Pope is not a moderate Christian, he is not a Christian at all. We don’t declare ourselves Christian, can’t become Christian by baptism, church membership, being born into a “Christian” family, being of good character, or doing good deeds, etc. Only God Himself can make us a Christian and He does that when we finally acknowledge our sin before Him (repentance towards God), fully understanding that our transgression of His law condemns us to a literal hell and there is nothing that we can do to change that except to call upon His Son whom He sent to die for our sins on the cross of Calvary, acknowledging that death was in our stead, and believing that He was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, proving that God fully accepted His payment on our behalf (and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ).
mortimer says
Pope Francis hasn’t read the Sira, hadiths, canonical commentaries or manuals of Sharia law nor the volumes of fatwas … SO HOW DOES HE KNOW ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT ISLAM?
Answer: He is guessing about what Islam teaches. He does not know.
Since, Pope Francis DOES NOT KNOW Islamic teachings, he will NEVER KNOW when they are lying to him with a straight face.
Pope Francis is a Pollyanna.
mortimer says
Imam Ayatollah Francis (who has no degree in Islamic studies) is going to teach Islam to men who have PhDs in Islamic studies.
This is the height of professional incompetence, not to mention absurd arrogance.
Pope Francis is a useful idiot of the taqiyya artists.
Cece says
It is a mistake to show weakness to Muslims. They admire strength.
Ann Marie says
Amazing… we have Christians who are being burned in their homes in Africa, women kidnapped, forced to marry muslims, raped.. and he has the nerve to visit a ‘training institute’?
He is what I always thought he was: a Peronista who wanted to destroy the Catholic Church and any other denominations of Christianity. A traitor inside the walls…
Obviously he isn’t paying attention to what Erdogan said: There is no moderate Islam, there is no radical Islam: there is just Islam….”
(And Eric, stop putting ‘awaiting moderation’ on my comments.. You’re being unfair..)
Robert Spencer says
Who the heck is Eric?
“Awaiting moderation” is an automated thing.
Islam_Is Islam says
Mr. Spencer, would you weigh in on a debate that is primarily being spearheaded by laity. It concerns the necessity of examining the juridical validity of Pope Benedict’s attempted resignation according to the law itself; specifically Canon 332.2, 17, 18, and to some extent 188. Here is a summation of the logical progression:
https://vericatholici.wordpress.com/2018/12/19/how-and-why-pope-benedict-xvis-resignation-is-invalid-by-the-law-itself/
Also, has a dawah promoter named Asadullah Ali Al-Andalui ever invited you to debate with him? He claims that you have turned him down. Thank you.
Robert Spencer says
I am not a Catholic and so I shouldn’t comment on the first question.
As for Asadullah, yes, his representative invited me to debate, but wanted me to provide a debate topic and cover expenses. That’s not how such things work. So nothing came of it. It seems clear now that they were trying to set me up to turn them down so they could claim I’m afraid of Asadullah. It’s easier than actually beating me in debate.
Ashley says
LOL!
I think “Eric” is Ann Marie’s imaginary enemy, and “Eric” triggers Ann Marie’s episodes of paranoia.
CRUSADER says
Maybe “Eric” is like HAL, the computer in outer space?
Or, it is a “half a bee”, per Monty Python….
Ann Marie says
To Mr. Spencer, I had a run in with one of the people at the time who was actually keeping my comments out of the site. If I got his name wrong, I am sorry. Perhaps, Mr. Spencer, you remember me from the Dublin, NH gathering last year.. at a lovely estate? I assisted the hostess in putting together.
To anyone else: keep your comments polite, please. I don’t make fun of you. And you don’t know the situation, so please mind your business
Robert Spencer says
Hi Ann Marie, yes, I remember you, and thank you for your help with a great event. No one named Eric has ever worked tech at Jihad Watch, and your comments were never barred intentionally as far as I know.
Ashley says
Please accept my apologies, Ann Marie.
I’m truly sorry…
gravenimage says
Ann Marie, I sometimes find my comments are “awaiting moderation” if I forget to include no more than two links in a post. I have also had this happen a couple of times when my username got messed up (once it was “gravenimagee”. This has nothing to do with content of comments, and is as Robert Spencer notes automatic.
And I very much agree with your comments in your 12:52 pm post.
CRUSADER says
If this Pope retires and goes back to Argentina, ponies up to a coffee tavern and orders up a drink…
do you think he will call out, “Pardon me, but how do I order here, Allahu-Akbarista?”
CogitoErgoSum says
His job is to teach them about Christianity …. but, as I mentioned above, that’s something Asia Bibi tried to do, so I think Francis will talk about how to get more Muslims to come to Europe instead.
mortimer says
Why should the mullahs listen to Francis’s calls to update or ‘moderate’ the violent teachings of Islam? They are working just fine. Allah and Mohammed both commanded the use of jihad to conquer the disbelievers.
Doesn’t Francis see that Divine commands may not be changed … that is blasphemous.
Tekyo Pantzov says
North Africans, i.e. natives of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya (but not Egypt), formerly known as “Barbary”, are extremely prone to jihadism and also dominate the crime statistics in Europe.
Nobody knows why.
It has nothing to do with the political systems in those countries, because their politics differ enormously. Morocco is a traditional theocracy ruled by a descendant of Mohammed, while Tunisia has always been the most secular Arab country. Algeria is ruled by a corrupt military caste and Libya is … hard to tell.
And the varieties of Sunni Islam practiced in those countries are no more extremist than elsewhere.
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
Rhetorical question: is the photo of the Pope kissing a Moslem’s feet real? Of course it is, and I commend him for it. He’s done it many times rhetorically and politically, so it’s a refreshing burst of honesty that he did it literally in open public, in case anybody missed the point.
gravenimage says
Good to see you posting again, APF.
ARTHUR L BOWIE says
Perhaps Pope Francis has forgotten Jesus commanded us to preach the gospel to all the world.
No Muzzies Here says
This man is delusional. Does he really think that Islam should be promoted? Judging from his pronouncements, it looks like he’s ashamed of Catholicism.
Rufolino says
With these State Visits to Islamic countries, the Pope is AFFIRMING Islam !
He most certainly knows that Moslem converts to Christianity might be executed.
If he does NOT know this he has no business leading the Catholic Church.
What a disgrace.
FYI says
He probably needed a break from all that covering-up in Rome{..mc carrick,pell..}especially since he had been personally involved in ..promoting both of them….so a nice visit to Morocco was due,surely in aid of the Great CHRISLAM project that nobody should know about ..so I won’t mention it then.
Perhaps a foot-washing display may be on the cards,as a sign of his Great Humility
and virtue-signaling piety.
CRUSADER says
“Not to act in accordance with Reason is contrary to God’s nature.”
====================================================
There’ve been a few Popes with balls — not only babblers handling bobbles.
What we need now is a Pope influencer from the Cistercian Order:
St Bernard of Clairvaux…..
https://www.benedictine.edu/press-room/work/regensburg-address
Synopsis of Pope Benedict XVI’s “Regensburg Address”
The following is a synopsis of the “Regensburg Address” by Pope Benedict XVI. This brief was written by Dr. Jean W. Rioux, chair of the Benedictine College Philosophy Department, who teaches about the lecture in class.
The “Regensburg Address”
In early September of 2006, Pope Benedict XVI gave an address to the faculty at the University of Regensburg in Germany, where he once taught theology. Entitled “Faith, Reason and the University—Memories and Reflections,” his talk became an occasion for strong protests from members of the Muslim community and others. At issue washis reference to a Byzantine emperor’s negative characterization of Muhammad. Mistakenly thinking it reflected the Pope’s own view, many were outraged at the perceived insult to their faith. The Pope himself was quick to address the misunderstanding at his next weekly Angelus prayer, saying:
“At this time, I wish also to add that I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages ofmy address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims. These in fact were a quotation from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought.”
The offensive passage was (in the Pope’s own words) only his starting-point for reflections on the issue of faith and reason. Seen in light of the particular question whether is it right to convert by means of violence, the Pope asks what place reason might have in such ethical and theological discussions in general, and what might we then mean by “reason”?
Can reason be a “common ground” from which to address differences of opinion in ethical and religious matters? Recognizing a Christianity based upon Christ, the question decidedly in the affirmative. God is a God of reason: “not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God’s nature”. He acknowledges that not all religions, and not even all Christians, have seen reason in as good a light.
The talk goes on to address what sort of reason can supply this “common ground”. Two candidates appear: the reasoning of the Greek philosophers, or what has come down to us in our day, modern scientific reasoning. The Pope spends some time describing the gradual severing of Christianity from the thought of the Greeks (a process he calls “dehellenization”), as well as the historical development of the modern paradigm for scientific inquiry. Not one to dismiss the achievements of science (“The positive aspects of modernity are to be acknowledged unreservedly: we are all grateful for the marvelous possibilities that it has opened up for mankind and for the progress in humanity that has been granted to us”), he nevertheless does not see such reasoning as supplying the “common ground” he is looking for. For one thing, it is limited only to matters capable of being empirically verified (or falsified). The solution, he argues, is a “broadening [of] our concept of reason and its application.” Not all reasoning is scientific reasoning, and where the issue concerns matters outside the limits of science, we do well to have recourse to philosophy and theology to answer our questions. As he says: “We will succeed in doing so only if reason and faith come together in a new way, if we overcome the self-imposed limitation of reason to the empirically falsifiable, and if we once more disclose its vast horizons.” In sum, the address argues, just as we should not simply replace modern scientific reasoning with other forms, so, too, should we avoid simply identifying science with reason. “For philosophy and, albeit in a different way, for theology, listening to the great experiences and insights of the religious traditions of humanity, and those of the Christian faith in particular, is a source of knowledge, and to ignore it would be an unacceptable restriction of our listening and responding.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XxjAlwuWX8
CRUSADER says
A lecture by Rev. Samir Khalil Samir, S.J. for the eighth annual fall conference, “The Dialogue of Cultures,” held November 29-December 1, 2007.
Benedict XVI’s Regensburg Address –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XxjAlwuWX8
gravenimage says
Morocco: Pope Francis to visit imam training institute to boost moderate Islam
……………………..
Has anyone investigated what is taught at this institute? Has anyone checked to see how “moderate” these Imams are once they start preaching? Has anyone ever thought to ask these questions?
More:
I think that with the pope’s visit, everyone will understand that even if Morocco is a Muslim country, Christians are welcome here”, she said.
……………………..
Grimly, sometimes the “welcome” is like this:
“Morocco: Islamic State hacks Scandinavian tourists to death, beheads one, films beheading”
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2018/12/morocco-islamic-state-hacks-scandinavian-tourists-to-death-beheads-one-films-beheading
CRUSADER says
If “Mr Andalu-illusion” wants to debate someone properly, perhaps Irshad Manji would be open to it…
She seems ready to take on Maleness and Arabness to a certain degree….
Meanwhile, this is what he has to say about himself:
Asadullah Ali Al-Andalusi is a research fellow for Yaqeen Institute, member of the Muslim Debate Initiative, and founder of the Andalusian Project;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=havdDOIMOIM
Rufolino says
He thinks Islam “basks in the light of the past” ??
Some “past” !!!
Doesn’t he mean “darkness” ?
Tom W Harris says
Go ahead and suck him off, Francie. U no u wanna!
mary (@nittanycat) says
At best, Francis is a member of the growing worldwide disease of useful idiots for islam. At worst, he is a usurper of the papacy, stolen from Pope Benedict, whose purpose is to advance leftist and Islamic ideology of submission of the masses to their would be masters. Next thing, he’ll convert to islam.
Dano says
Isn’t this pope that is kissing feet the same pope that jerked his hand away from people trying to kiss his ring due to hygienic reasons? This pope makes no sense.
David M says
What is a Catholic Pope doing going to a country where it is illegal to be a Catholic in public? At best this Pope is a traitor, at worst he is demon possessed.
Sam says
POPE can not be a Christian. What a shame he represents Christianity to non Christians. He is doing the devil’s work. He has to resign before Europe is totally Islamized.