The Religious Affairs Ministry has now apologized for this, but given the Pope of Rome’s positions on Islam, how did any of the Catholics notice? Or if they did notice, why did they think anything was amiss? After all, in September 2017, Pope Francis 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.
The summer before that, Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Cairo’s al-Azhar, thanked him 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”? But that’s what Francis is. So why should any Catholics in Indonesia have objected to this?
“Leave them; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14)
“Is the pope Catholic? Ministry apologizes for appointing Muslim as acting Catholic affairs director-general,” Jakarta Post, February 11, 2020 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
A bureaucratic blunder caused the Religious Affairs Ministry to appoint a Muslim official as acting head of the Catholic Community Guidance Directorate General, a move that drew online and offline criticism.
Ministry secretary-general Nur Kholis Setiawan took the blame for the gaffe, saying he had given mistaken advice to the ministry’s top brass.
“I apologize for this oversight,” Nur Kholis said in an official ministry press release on Monday night, adding that the ministry would soon appoint a new acting director-general from within the Catholic unit.
Nur himself had been appointed to the role in January, replacing another Muslim official, Muhammadiyah Amin, who had filled the position since the previous director-general Eusabius Binsasi, who was Catholic, retired last July.
Minister Fachrul Razi and Deputy Minister Zainut Tauhid Sa’adi had previously defended both appointments, saying that National Civil Service Agency (BKN) regulations prevented the ministry from putting a Catholic in the position.
However, it turned out the problem was of their own making, stemming from a misreading of a 2019 BKN circular that states civil servants can only be appointed as acting officials in positions “at the same level or one level above” the ones they held.
Ministry leadership apparently interpreted the wording in the circular to mean civil servants could only fill vacant spots that were at the same level or one level below their position.
“In the Catholic Community Guidance Directorate General there is only one echelon 1 position, while the rest are echelon 2 and 3, so it is impossible for the acting head to come from the Catholic directorate general,” Zainut said in a statement on Monday, adding that the Nur Kholis’ appointment was made merely for administrative reasons….
The misstep had been heavily criticized online, with several Twitter users drawing attention to the irony of having a Muslim in charge of Catholic religious affairs.
Twitter user @darmanto0802, for example, tweeted an imaginary conversation of someone who might be looking for the director-general.
“Good morning, sir. I’m looking for the Catholic Community Guidance director-general” the questioner asks.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, the director-general is on leave to go on the haj,” comes the reply….
somehistory says
Well, if he has gone to mecca for the round and round the ugly stone, perhaps he’ll see the current pope in the crowd.
If someone grabs the pope’s hand while they are circling the drain, he better be careful about slapping the hand away.
If no one had noticed or complained, would they have removed the moslim from the position of power over the Catholics? I don’t believe they would have.
J D.S says
Apparently the pope is going over to Satan’s side. Where is the origin of islam from?
FYI says
No surprise to catholics as catholic prophecy predicted that!
{see.. the prophecy of st Francis of Assisi about a false pope,”the destroyer”}
Here is something about the origin of islam.
1]al LAH is an ARAB god.The god of islam is a god that evolved out of Arab paganism.Note that the god of the kaaba is {hu}bAAL which is interesting as Elijah gives this choice..
“If the Lord be God follow Him
But if bAAL is god follow him”
I KINGS 18 v 21
The Jews and Christians subscribe to the Judeo-Christian Biblical God.
al lah is NOT the Biblical God:allah comes from hubaal.
al lah is a completely different ARAB god and the difference between
the Judeo-Christian God and allah is a lot like the difference between YHWH the God of Israel and baal.
Note how baal is the diabolus simius Dei.In any case it is obvious that allah is NOT the same as the Biblical God.
2]It is doubtful many muslims know this but allah has an enemy.
allah{“the BEST of deceivers” k3:54} has as his enemy ……a MAN.
WHY is allah’s enemy a MAN?
WHO is this MAN allah hates?
“The messenger of allah said ‘the most hated of men before allah
on the day of resurrection and the most wretched,and the man most hated to him,will be a MAN called MALIK AL AMLAK{“king of kings”}
for there is no king but allah”
SAHIH MUSLIM VOL 5 HADITH # 5611
If this hadith is considered true, muslims cannot dispute this.
{fiddling the Arabic won’t work;MALIK AL AMLAK means “king of kings”
I have Arabic speaking relatives….It means exactly what it means}
But only Jesus Christ has that title{given in Revs 19:16},revealed in the Gospel a book allah CONFIRMS as TRUE {koran 3:3/koran 5:46-47}
so allah’s enemy is a MAN called “the KING OF KINGS”
allah’s enemy is Jesus Christ.
I’d like to see islamic apologists explain this away without 1]lying and 2]desperately trying to fiddle the Arabic.
3]The Arabs needed a god who would facilitate their political and religious totalitarian ideology.
The absence of the Golden Rule,the Holy Spirit,The 2nd chief commandment of God{all revealed in the Bible but either missing or denied or contradicted in the koran}in islam made it easier for them to do that.Thus while allah claims he wrote the Bible and confirms it as TRUE k3:3,look at how all those essential things revealed in the Bible are conveniently{and most certainly deliberately}left out in the koran.
In whose interest is it that the Golden rule,the Holy Spirit and the 2nd chief commandment of God be missing?
al lah the champion deceiver,the god of islam
The god whose enemy is a MAN called the “KING OF KINGS”
somehistory says
+100
somehistory says
After Jesus said, “Everyone on the side of truth, listens to my voice,” He was asked, “What is truth?” and then was called a King by Pontius Pilate, who then said when Jesus was led out for the crowds to see Jesus, “Behold, the Man!”
Jesus Christ was both a Man…of Truth…and also King. (John 18 and 19th chapters.)
gravenimage says
Indonesia: Religious Affairs Ministry appoints Muslim acting head of Catholic Community Guidance Directorate General
………………
So much for religious freedom in the most “moderate” country in Islam…
Rufolino says
An oblique glimpse at how far the Catholic Church, under the present Pope, has got itself stuck up the creek.
Jack Holan says
You ask if Pope Francis is Catholic. The short answer is NO. Howcan he be a avowed Leftist AND a Catholic? The two are diametrically opposed. His love of Islam is also contrary to thevalues of Catholicism. Whay ha they really done to and with Pope Benedict?
Billy Chickens says
What would have happened if they had appointed a Catholic in charge of Muslim affairs?
janwog says
No wonder. the pope Francis is a Chrislamist.
elee says
Hitler had whole Nai bureaucracies dedicated to quote Jewish affairs unquote Anybody starting to see a pattern here