After Turkey, We Take On A Pope

Oh my, look who has jumped into the fray:-

Vatican Decries Plight of Mideast Christians

In a document presented here [Nicosia] on Sunday by Pope Benedict XVI, bishops from across the Middle East decried the plight of Christians in the region, largely attributing their widespread exodus to the “instability” caused by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the war in Iraq and unrest in Lebanon.

In recent decades, Christians have gone from 20 percent of the region’s population to less than 5 percent, and the number is dropping. Calling on Christians to become a dynamic minority in a conflict-ridden region, the document also lamented the rise of “political Islam” and said Christians suffered in countries where Muslims often “make no distinction between religion and politics.”

...Ending his three-day visit to Cyprus, Benedict also made a “personal appeal for an urgent and concerted international effort to resolve the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, especially in the Holy Land, before such conflicts lead to greater bloodshed.”

...But even as the pope called for peace and dialogue, the weekend was darkened by the killing in Turkey on Thursday of Bishop Luigi Padovese, 62, the head of the Turkish bishops conference and one of the authors of the document. His Turkish driver has been arrested and charged with the crime, which the pope has said was a “personal” matter, not driven by religious or political motives.

The bishops’ document said that Christians have been leaving the region because of conflict and instability there.

“Today, emigration is particularly prevalent because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the resulting instability throughout the region,” the document said. “The menacing social situation in Iraq and the political instability of Lebanon further intensify the phenomenon.”

Let's start with Nicosia:-

Following the intercommunal violence of the 1960s, the capital was divided between the island's Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in the south and north respectively. An attempted coup to unite the island with Greece in 1974 led to a Turkish invasion, leaving the capital divided since then, with Turkish Cypriots claiming the north as the capital of their own state, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) (recognised only by Turkey). On 3 April 2008, as part of efforts to reunify the island, a symbolic wall dividing the two communities at Ledra Street was opened. Nicosia retains the distinction of being the world's last divided capital.

And who is causing regional "conflict and instability"? Who is raping Christian girls in Bethlehem? Who is murdering priests in Gaza? Who is killing Copts in Egypt, Christians in Iraq?

Where are the Assyrian Christians? How small are the Maronites in Lebanon?

Wake up, Benedict.

British Sense of Humor

Well, at least this beats anything Danny Ayalon has done:-

The Government has been plunged into a major diplomatic storm after Foreign Office officials circulated an offensive memo mocking the Pope's forthcoming visit to Britain. In the document, staff who were asked to propose ideas for the 'ideal' visit suggested Benedict XVI could launch a new range of 'Benedict' condoms or back a Miss Developing World beauty contest.

Sources in Rome said the document also proposed that the Pope might sing a duet with the Queen to raise money for charity. The pair are due to meet during the Pontiff's visit in September. The memo, which has dismayed Church leaders in Britain, is also understood to suggest that the leader of the world's one billion Roman Catholics could apologise for the Spanish Armada, reverse his ban on women priests and visit an old people's home.

A graphic attached to the document listed 'positive' people who could be associated with the trip, including former Prime Minister Tony Blair and the singer Susan Boyle, and 'negative' ones, such as England footballer Wayne Rooney. All three are Catholics - with Boyle a former singer in her parish choir and Blair converting to the faith two years ago.

To the fury of Foreign Secretary David Miliband, the memo, drawn up last month after a Foreign Office 'brainstorming' session, was circulated to officials in a number of Government departments - including the Department for International Development and 10 Downing Street. From there, it found its way to senior figures in the Catholic Church in Britain and, it is understood, details were passed on to Church officials in Rome.

And Miliband is Jewish.

Tsk, tsk.

Jews Faking Church Music

Dudu Fisher and David D'Or serenade the Pope at the President's residence by singing in what I would call "falsetto-church-Gregorian" style:

Thank You, Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin

"The pope spoke like a historian, as somebody observing from the sidelines, about things that shouldn't happen," Israeli Parliament Speaker Reuven Rivlin said on Israel Radio. "But what can you do? He was part of them. With all due respect to the Holy See, we cannot ignore the baggage he carries with him."

Source

And, Among Other Things

I applaud the Pope's brave stand:

And, speaking in the presence of President Mahmoud Abbas before offering a mass in a sunlit Manger Square, he also urged young Palestinians to “have the courage to resist any temptation you may feel to resort to acts of violence or terrorism.”

He added: “I make this appeal to the many young people throughout the Palestinian Territories today: do not allow the loss of life and the destruction that you have witnessed to arouse bitterness or resentment in your hearts”

"Just Give Me Five Minutes, He Doesn't Understand Arabic Anyway"

Pope Benedict XVI, left, listens as Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, center,
and Sheikh Taysir Tamimi talk


******


"Have I got a surprise for you, Baba"

References: here

Catholic-Jewish Checkers

[Pope Benedict XVI, bottom right, shakes hands with Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen, second left, as Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, top right, and Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, look on during an interfaith gathering at the Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem, Monday, May 11, 2009. The Pope is on a five day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)]

What The Pope Sees From His Mt. of Olives Window

Source

The Pope Visits The Temple Mount

According to the Hebrew Ynet report, you'll be informed that the Temple Mount has "two parts, the Jewish and the Muslim section" and that's where the Pope visited today.

I am not quite sure that definition's bad. Sometimes, in a situation like this, fifty per cent is more than you'd expect.

And if you can actually read the accompanying Hebrew text, it reads there that the Pope, on the Temple Mount, visited

במתחם כיפת הסלע

which translates as : "in the Dome of the Rock compound." That's even better. No Haram El-Sharif ("Noble Sanctuary").

Funny how ignorant journalists can make the correct mistakes.

The English-language Ynet story, has the pope visiting "the Dome of the Rock shrine inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a site holy to Jews and Muslims."

P.S. And, by the way, couldn't find any video clip. According to the BBC,

There was no live television coverage of the visit because of a dispute between Israeli and Palestinian broadcast companies, said the BBC's David Willey, who is travelling with the Pope.

That's hilarious. And they still expect us to negotiate a peace settlement?

Pope Walks Out of Dialogue After Fanatic Palestian Imam Goes Bonkers

Seems the sheikh went overboard. I saw the film clip on Channel One TV and found this report:

Palestinian sheik slams Israel during papal visit

An incident was reported during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the Notre-Dame Hotel in east Jerusalem, when after his speech, a Palestinian sheik took the stage and slammed Israel.

Sheikh Taiseer al-Tamimi, head of the Palestinian Authority's Sharia Courts, blamed Israel for "destroying Palestinian citing and erecting settlements on Palestinian land. Jerusalem will remain the Palestinian people's capital and it is up to the other religions to defend the Palestinians and their lands," he said.

Pope was p*ssed that his words were not in accordance with the purpose of the dialogue session and walked out.


UPDATE

Chief Islamic Judge of the Palestinian Authority, Sheikh Tayseer Rajab Tamimi, launched a poisonous verbal attack at Israel at a Monday night gathering attended by Pope Benedict XVI.

In a meeting with organizations involved in inter-religious dialogue at the Notre Dame Jerusalem Center, Tamimi called upon Muslims and Christians to unite against what he said were the murderous Israelis.

Taking the podium after the pope without being on the original list of speakers scheduled for the evening, Tamimi accused Israel of murdering women and children in Gaza and making Palestinians refugees, and declared Jerusalem the eternal Palestinian capital...

Minutes after the embarrassing occurrence, Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See press office, released a response to the incident.

"The intervention of Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi was not previewed by the organizers of the interreligious meeting that took place at Notre Dame Centre in Jerusalem," the message read. "In a meeting dedicated to dialogue, this intervention was a direct negation of what [it] should be," it continued.

"We hope that such an incident will not damage the mission of the Holy Father aiming at promoting peace and interreligious dialogue, as he has clearly affirmed in many occasions in this pilgrimage," Father Lombardi added.

P.S.

Last month, Tamimi reissued a warning to Palestinians against selling their homes or properties to Jews, saying those who violated the order would be accused of "high treason" - a charge that carries the death penalty.


UPDATE - II

Latin Patriach of Jerusalem Fouad Twal attempted without success to get Tamimi to stop speaking. Although some people in the room applauded the remarks, others appeared distinctly uncomfortable.

It was not clear whether Benedict understood what Tamimi was saying.

The meeting, attended by Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders, ended after Tamimi's tirade.

A Schule in Rome?

[Yeshiva University Chancellor Rabbi Norman] Lamm said..."The pope is an intellectual and as such there is a subtext to his behavior. His interests are primarily theological. Nothing of great consequence could come of the visit. He is not that kind of person."

Lamm said the pope's emphasis on intellectual matters and his lack of interest in political issues led to an imbroglio with Jewish leadership..."That [his emphasis on intellectuality] is how he got in trouble lifting the herem on that bishop," Lamm said.

He also said he opposed transferring control over Church properties in Israel to the Vatican.

"Does a shul in Rome have extraterritorial rights? Why should a church in Israel?" Lamm asked.

New Web Site Launched

JewishIsrael.

On occasion of the Pope's visit.

And there's some art as well:

Three Out of Five

MSNBC reports:

In Jordan, Benedict is scheduled to visit the biblical (1) baptismal site of Jesus Christ, officially recognized by the Vatican on the Jordanian side of the Jordan River, and (2) Mt. Nebo, where Moses is said to have first viewed the Promised Land. Jordan wants to use the pope's upcoming pilgrimage to showcase its Holy Land treasures to the world, hoping to boost its religious tourism that is often overshadowed by neighboring Israel. Jordan's other religious sites include the world's oldest purpose-built (3) church near Aqaba, (4) a cave where Lot sheltered from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and (5) Aaron's tomb at Petra.

That's three Jewish sites out of five.

Not bad.

Criticism of the Pope

...his obsessive desire to preserve Church unity in this case was foolish — as foolish, in fact, as that shepherd in the Parable of the Lost Sheep, who left 99 of his flock to go in search of the one that had strayed. Incidentally, as the great 16th century Catholic Humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam pointed out, the Gospels are full of such foolishness.

Read it all.

I Think The Rabbis Is Wrong

A rabbi in Jerusalem has one request for Pope Benedict XVI when he visits the Western Wall in May: Leave the cross at home.

And he explains:

Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, who will meet the pontiff when he visits the Holy Land on May 12, said that a cross is not proper when visiting the Jewish religious site, The Jerusalem Post reported.

"My position is that it is not fitting to enter the Western Wall area with religious symbols, including a cross," Rabinovitch told The Jerusalem Post. "I feel the same way about a Jew putting on a tallit and phylacteries and going into a church."

But take a look at this series of pictures:







That's Haifa's Chief Rabbi She'ar Yashuv Cohen, in October 2008 and this month.

First he has a hat, that a black yarmulke and then a white one, quite prominent.

If he can do that in the Vatican, the Pope, by me, can wear a cross.

A Pope and A Dome

CNN reported three days ago:

Pope Benedict XVI will not visit Israel's Holocaust museum when he makes his first trip to the region as pope in May, though he will visit a memorial that is part of the site, his ambassador to Israel said Tuesday.

He will also become the first pontiff to visit the Dome of the Rock, one of the holiest sites in Islam, said the envoy, papal nuncio Antonio Franco.

...the Yad Vashem complex in Jerusalem...includes controversial wording describing the role of Pope Pius XII during World War II, which is why Pope Benedict balked, an Israeli official said.

So,

a) if the Pope doesn't like the wording of an exhibit, does that mean that no Jew should show up at his Vatican office because some Catholic catechism may be offensive to Jews? If so, why did these Rabbis show up this week?

b) the Dome of the Rock, not being a mosque, is, I presume, an okay location although Muslims consider the entire walled-in compound a holy site. But he'll also be visiting the most holiest Jewish site and that should be stressed, even if we don;t have our Temple there. Yet.

Papal Room-hopping

The Pope will be coming to Israel (part of the Holy Land) and there seems to be a problem:

Pope Benedict XVI, who confirmed on Sunday that he was coming to Israel in May, will definitely visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, The Jerusalem Post was told on Monday. But he will not tour that part of the museum where a photograph of his predecessor Pius XII is displayed with a caption saying the wartime pope did not act to save Jews from the Holocaust.

...Unlike pope John Paul II, who did visit the Temple Mount but did not go into al-Aksa, Benedict will enter that mosque, the official said.

...the pope would enter the room where the Pius photograph and caption were on display, if the exhibit remained unchanged, it would not prevent the pontiff's coming to Yad Vashem.

I hope the Pope will be informed that the Temple Mount is where the Second (and First) Temple stood - Arafat and also others don't believe that - and where a Jew, Jesus, overturned some tables, a semi-violent direct action protest.

And I hope he gets to the Kotel to leave a note like his predecessor



but that the slip of paper be better guarded than this fellow's note





P.S.

A notice this Pal. media take:

Pope Benedict XVI is to become the first head of the Roman Catholic Church to enter a mosque in Jerusalem when he visits the Holy Land in May.

The papal nuncio to the Holy Land, Msgr Antonio Franco, said the pontiff will visit the 7th-century Dome of the Rock, which is one of the oldest extant Islamic buildings in the world and houses a rock in which the Prophet Muhammad is thought to have left his foot print as he ascended to heaven accompanied by the angel Gabriel. ''The visit inside the Dome of the Rock has been agreed in principle,'' said Msgr Franco, who added that the pontiff would be accompanied by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and other Islamic figures. Franco played down reports that Benedict may also visit the nearby al-Aqsa Mosque, saying this ''had not been spoken about''.

=====================================


UPDATE

The Catholics are already going Islamic on the Temple Mount Papal visit.

Vatican Promotes "One-State Solution"?

Pope Benedict XVI formally announced Sunday that he would make his first papal visit to the Holy Land from May 8 to 15.

In his long-planned trip, the pope is expected to visit Amman, Jordan; Jerusalem and Nazareth in Israel; and Bethlehem in the West Bank, the Vatican said in a statement.

Ah, the Holy Land. That nebulous imaginary place.

But why is it holy?

Because of Molech sacrifice of children?

Ammorite practices? Canaanite rituals?

Or Jewish religious customs and the introduction of monotheism? Jewish prophets, the Jewish Temple worship, the morality and philosophy of life.

And will the Pope be bringing some holiness or with the Williamson catastrophe of reintroducing Holocaust denial, Cardinal Renato Martino saying the Gaza Strip resmbles “a big concentration camp” and the beatification of Pius XII - not to mention Mt. Zion being handed over - trip everything up?