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Post by Daniel on May 18, 2015 7:50:07 GMT -5
Pope Francis Receives Palestinian President Abbas as 'Angel of Peace'
By Anugrah Kumar May 17, 2015
Pope Francis called Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas "an angel of peace," as the two met in the Vatican Saturday, days after the Catholic Church officially recognized a Palestinian state in a treaty, which "disappointed" Israel.
Presenting a medallion bearing an image of the angel of peace, "which destroys the evil spirit of war," to Abbas, Francis stated, "I thought of you because you are an angel of peace," according to Agence France Presse.
Abbas also had a gift for the pope: religious relics related to two 19th-century nuns with Palestinian roots who are scheduled to be canonized in the Vatican Sunday.
Francis and Abbas expressed their hopes for a resumption of peace negotiations between Palestine and Israel, according to Vatican Radio.
"To this end the wish was reiterated that, with the support of the international community, Israelis and Palestinians may take with determination courageous decisions to promote peace," a Vatican statement said.
"During the cordial discussions, great satisfaction was expressed for the accord reached on the text of a comprehensive Agreement between the Parties on various essential aspects of the life and the activity of the Catholic Church in Palestine, to be signed in the near future," the statement added, referring to the treaty, which recognized "the State of Palestine."
"Yes, it's a recognition that the state exists," the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told reporters Wednesday about the treaty, which concerns the Catholic Church's activities in that territory.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded to the treaty by saying it was "disappointed," explaining that it would hinder the peace process.
continue reading www.christianpost.com/news/pope-francis-receives-palestinian-president-abbas-as-angel-of-peace-139210/
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Post by Cindy on May 20, 2015 11:15:11 GMT -5
ore like an angel of evil....
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Post by Daniel on May 23, 2015 8:00:44 GMT -5
Peaceful Meddling With Israel
by Alf Cengia May 22, 2015
Did he or didn't he say it? There's been a media kerfuffle about what Pope Francis did or didn't say about Mahmoud Abbas. Did the pope really call him an angel of peace or did he admonish him to be the angel of peace? Or was it both?
Some now insist it was the latter. One irony is that earlier, alleged misrepresentations of what the pope said came from media outlets which I consider to be liberal and somewhat biased. I suppose there's some lesson there for all of us.
Naval Intelligence officer J. E. Dyer seeks to correct the earlier view:
'As is tradition with heads of State or of government, Francis presented a gift to the Palestinian leader, commenting: “May the angel of peace destroy the evil spirit of war. I thought of you: may you be an angel of peace.” Pope Francis had called Abu Mazen a “man of peace” when he visited Bethlehem in May 2014, just as he called the then Israeli Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, a “man of peace” during his subsequent visit to Jerusalem.' (Emphasis mine)
However, the story didn't end there. Perhaps the pope said both. As CAMERA notes, the text of an article published by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reads (as translated):
'The Pope has, for his part, donated to the Palestinian president a copy of Evangelii Gaudium and a medallion with the figure of the Angel of Peace that "destroys the evil spirit of the war - said the pontiff, according to reports by those present, “I thought of you – an angel of peace.”' (Emphasis mine)
Either way, the pope slapped Abbas on the back and encouraged him to be a nice guy.
Dyer makes a good point about "heads of state." The Vatican is a State with a long political history. The pope is a sovereign politician and an ecclesiastical leader. His Vatican State has already officially acknowledged the State of Palestine. The New Treaty transfers the Holy See's diplomatic relations from the Palestinian Liberation Organization to the State of Palestine.
Call them what you prefer, they're the same guys with a nice new name.
The pope also has a vested ecclesiastical interest in the area. The Roman Church always has. Israel, and especially Jerusalem, has been the battleground for Christianity, Judaism and Islam. The pope isn't only concerned for the well being of Christians in the area - sites which Christians consider holy are a major factor as well.
Pope Francis hopes that this overture to Mahmoud Abbas may somehow change his outlook. The canonization of the two Palestinian nuns seems to have been timed for this occasion. Or am I being too cynical? Notably, Christian Palestinian Hanan Ashrawi quickly seized the opportunity to declare:
“This [canonization] is a recognition of the Palestinian narrative, identity and history. We’ve been here for centuries, and Christianity is part and parcel of our identity. We are the oldest Christians in the world.”
Well, so have the Jews! Sadly, Ashrawi is no stranger to making lamentable and controversial statements about Israel and Jewish refugees. She also thinks Hamas aren't the bad guys.
Despite the pope's gift, Abbas is who he is - the heir to Arafat and someone who refuses to recognize Israel as a legitimate Jewish state. He's also a man who has personally profited from his position as president of the Palestinian Authority. According to Gatestone Institute, Abbas is worth $100 million! Remember Arafat's millions?
When the UN upgraded the Palestinian bid for statehood in 2012, Abbas triumphantly declared:
"The world said in a loud voice... yes to the state of Palestine, yes to Palestine's freedom, yes to Palestine's independence, no to aggression, no to settlements, no to occupation..." (Emphasis mine)
Abbas then announced plans to accelerate moves to reconcile with Hamas. He also said that: "Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the state of Palestine."
I wonder if the pope had a private chat to him about that particular aspiration. Is there room for Christianity and its holy sites in Abbas' future dream country? After all, Christians aren't exactly welcome in his part of the world at the moment.
And notice Abbas' declaration of aggression, settlement and occupation. It's a slogan that won't die and people regularly trot out. When the "angel of peace" fiasco hit the headlines, many opinion writers resurrected the same old aggression-occupation memes.
So essentially what the pope did with his symbolic gesture was put to wind into Mahmoud Abbas' sails. He did this at Israel's expense, whether he intended it or not. Perhaps the pope should have given Abbas a red letter Bible instead.
But even if Abbas were to miraculously respond to the pope's angel-of-peace nudge, his PA party will not. The Palestinian Authority's charter calls for the "elimination of Zionism." The correct Arabic translation actually means "the liquidation of the Zionist presence." This is what Israel's Arab neighbors have wanted to do since 1948.
Even protestant evangelicals have a track record of honoring Israel's enemies. As Paul Wilkinson has noted in several places, Yasser Arafat had many Christian admirers yet he never changed his charter on Israel. People like Stephen Sizer, Gary Burge, Naim Ateek, Desmond Tutu, Hanan Ashrawi and Michael Prior fawned over him. Yet he died without recanting.
These people do more damage to the Arab-Israeli conflict than good. They don't change the Hamas or PA charters. They only serve to justify these organizations and further demonize Israel.
Some may be getting tired of my constantly citing Zechariah. Nevertheless here it is again:
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. Zech 12:2
When will all the so-called "People of the Book" sit up and pay attention?
Posted with permission www.omegaletter.com/articles/articles.asp?ArticleID=8056
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Post by sevenofnine on May 25, 2015 12:52:49 GMT -5
I got one thing to say to Pope Frankie
Lightin up Francis
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Post by sw7777 on May 26, 2015 18:29:06 GMT -5
Abbas is a high level Freemason.
That the vatican recognises the Palestinaina state,. means it agrees with dividingup God sland. GOd says wHe will judge those who divide up His land....
I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations
and divided up my land. ( Joel 3:2 )
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Post by Daniel on May 28, 2015 8:38:59 GMT -5
The Pope who loved the Jews…Really?
By Olivier Melnick May 28, 2015
It doesn’t matter if you are Catholic or not, the Pope is an international figure that cannot be ignored. As a Jew, I do not fall under his authority like a Roman Catholic would, but I understand that he can be a very influential person.
Over the centuries, many popes have come and gone and those who truly loved the Jews were definitely few and far in between. I do not want to give the impression of being anti-Catholic, yet if history is our witness, the Catholic Church has often failed in the area of Judeo-Christian relations. Where the Church as a religious institution has failed, many catholic individuals succeeded, as there are many stories of Catholics loving, helping, hiding and protecting Jews over the centuries and especially during the Holocaust era.
The current Pope was introduced to the world as a “friend of the Jews”. He comes only a short fifty years after Vatican II and the famous Nostra Aetate document also known as the “Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions.” This short, very ecumenical document aimed at reconciling Jews, Muslims and Christians among other things. It is at that time, almost 1,700 years after the death of Yeshua (Jesus) that the Catholic Church decided to exonerate the Jews from the charge of deicide (the killing of God). That statement is worth reviewing: “Even though the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ (cf. John 19:6), neither all Jews indiscriminately at that time, nor Jews today, can be charged with the crimes committed during his passion. lt is true that the Church is the new people of God, yet the Jews should not be spoken of as rejected or accursed as if this followed from holy Scripture. Consequently, all must take care, lest in catechizing or in preaching the Word of God, they teach anything which is not in accord with the truth of the Gospel message or the spirit of Christ.
There is no doubt that a clear attempt was made at exonerating the Jewish people from the death of Yeshua. But outside of a few within the leadership of the time along with a few of their Jewish followers, the corporate guilt for the death of Yeshua was established on a false premise. A simple review of chapter 10 of the Gospel of John would probably have sufficed to see that Yeshua claimed to have given His own life for all. One doesn’t need to adhere to the Christian faith to even see that: “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father”.
Interestingly enough, within the same breath, that statement declares that “lt is true that the Church is the new people of God.” Such a theological construct is also based on a faulty biblical approach seeing Christians has having “replaced” Israel. Replacement Theology has always been very prevalent within the Catholic Church.
continue reading www.newantisemitism.com/antisemitism/the-pope-who-loved-the-jews-really
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