An article from www.trustedworldnews.com (Edited by Red Sky Warning) that outlines the latest developments on the issue of “pan-religion”.
VATICAN CITY, Oct 25 – Pope Benedict XVI has invited 300 religious leaders to a meeting in Assisi in Italy to repudiate “violence in the name of God” amid growing tensions fuelled by fundamentalists across the world.
The day of interreligious council, which will be held on Thursday in St. Francis of Assisi’s birthplace, is intended to be a “journey of reflection, dialogue and prayer for peace and justice in the world,” the Vatican said.
Over 50 Islamic representatives are expected to attend the talks from several countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iran.
They will be joined by Rabbis, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, a Zoroastrian, a Bahai and representatives of Taoism and Confucianism as well as of other traditional religions from Africa and America.
For the first time, four atheists will also attend the meeting (!), which is traditionally organised so as not to coincide with the Muslim day of prayer on Friday, the Jewish one on Saturday or the Christian one on Sunday.
However, the Imam from the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, a heavyweight authority on Sunnism, will not be coming, having fallen out with the pope after he urged Egypt to protect Christians from attacks by radical Islamists.
The meeting is being criticised by Catholic fundamentalists who are strongly against the idea of dialogue with other religions. French fundamentalist Regis de Cacqueray said 1,000 masses would be needed to be said in reparation.
The event marks the 25th anniversary of the first interreligious meeting in Assisi, organised by John Paul II in 1986 as a “day of prayer” inspired by the United Nation’s proclamation of an International Year of the Peace.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, chose not to attend because of concerns shared by traditionalists that it risked mixing religions into a vague common belief.
Videos from Assisi, 1986
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3n_AeTLf48
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjqjPB29Txw
Meanwhile, the Synod of the “Orthodox” Bishops of France, having welcomed the “spirit of Assisi”, decided to participate in interfaith “religious meetings for peace”, which are to be held in Paris on October 27 by the Roman Catholics, and the ecumenical community of St. “Giles.
In a press release sit was stated that: “Now, during the global crisis, more than ever it is a necessity, not only to overcome the historical wounds, but to work together for peace and to overcome the tensions created from these crises.”
Tags: CATHOLICISM, Ecumenism, Interreligious, NEW WORLD ORDER, Panreligion, THE BEAST, THE POPE
