Re: PBXVI, JPII, and PXVI ...or a "noble Islam"

Submitted by Ianus (Poland), Jan 24, 2006 at 15:28

Dear TW Pope,

Thank you kindly for your posting. It is really hard to understand many subtleties of CCC 841 without in-depth theological knowledge. But let's not abandon the point yet!

> I must add, in humility and charity, that there are two footnotes attached to CCC 841, which point to the source of this paragraph. The first is LG 16 which reference 'Lumen Gentium' which was one of the constitutions of Vatican II, promulgated by Holiness Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964. The second footnote, NA 3, is in reference to 'Nostre Aetate,' a decleration of Vatican II, also promulgated by Holiness Pope Paul VI, October 28, 1965. Therefore, paragraph 841 should be attributed to Pope Paul VI, not Pope John Paul II.

I agree. This friendly attitude towards Islam was not invented by John Paul II. He just inherted ,continued and developed the tendency that had started before him.

In the said fundamental declaration "Nostra Aetate" we read :

3. The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth,(5) who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgment when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.

Since in the course of centuries not a few quarrels and hostilities have arisen between Christians and Moslems, this sacred synod urges all to forget the past and to work sincerely for mutual understanding and to preserve as well as to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom."


Personnaly I have many objections to this statement. In particular I find the phrase : " this sacred synod urges all to forget the past" as totally irresponsible and for me (although I am not a Catholic) unacceptable.
The Catholic Church is a historical institution proudly tracing back its uninterrupted history to the apostle Peter. It was at the hands of Islam that Christianity has suffered most damaging and irrepalable losses. It was through Islam that it was totally exterminated in such places as North Africa or almost totally in others.
How can any Christian (or European) ever forget that Carthage was after Alexandria the most significant see and long competed with Rome? That the Hagia Sophia was the most splendid Christian Cathedral ever built in the East? Forgetting this past is like renouncing one's own identity, like forgetting real sufferings in order to get some imaginary satisfaction.

And what for me is so offensive in this above statement is the disrespect , expressed in complete silence of the fact that in the Muslim plan of salvation Christianity has no chance to escape hell. All Christians are doomed to hell including the official hierarchy according to Islam.

"Those reject [truth] among the People of the Book are the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, dwelling there therein forever. They are the worst of creatures."
[98: 6]

It is the sixth hell that is reserved for them and horrifying tortures and horrednous sadistic sufferings have been prepared for every Christian there. How can one forget all of it ? Why does no one mention that in "Nostra Aetate" ?

And yet e.g. during his trip to Marocco JPII announced to the Muslim youths in Casablanca on 19.08. 1985:

"I am happy to meet you here in Morocco. Morocco has a tradition of openness. Your scholars have travelled, and you have welcomed scholars from other countries. Morocco has been a meeting place of civilizations: it has permitted exchanges with the East, with Spain, and with Africa. Morocco has a tradition of tolerance; in this Muslim country there have always been Jews and nearly always Christians; that tradition has been carried out in respect, in a positive manner." (...)
The Catholic Church regards with respect and recognizes the quality of your religious progress, the richness of your spiritual tradition.(...)
I believe that we, Christians and Muslims, must recognize with joy the religious values that we have in common, and give thanks to God for them."

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1985/august/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19850819_giovani-stadio-casablanca_en.html

This unrealistic view is voiced also in the article of the then cardinal J. Ratzinger (thanks for the link so much, dear friend) in his review of "The salt of the earth" :
"There is a noble Islam, embodied, for example, by the King of Morocco".

A "noble Islam"? Is its theology so different from that of "the extremist, terrorist Islam, which, again, one must not identify with Islam as a whole, which would do it an injustice" as far as Christians's fate in the Islamic plan of salvation is concerned ? Both in the "noble" and in the "extremist, terrorist" Islam they are doomed to go to the sixth hell.

I am sure BXVI cherishes no illusions as to all this Islamic theological treachery. He knows the facts too well. But he is under pressure of the long pro-Islamic tradition and views prevailing in the Vatican since "Nostra Aetate" which gained particular momentum under JPII. That's why he hasn't voiced his opinions clearly and openly so far , although his unofficial (non ex cathedra) statements and acts indicate that he wants to break with this irrisponsible tradition.


With best wishes ,
Jan

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