Posted on 04/07/2016 11:02:27 AM PDT by ebb tide
An Italian bishop has clashed with a pair of priests who want to invite Muslims to pray inside their churches in a bid to promote tolerance in a diocese in Tuscany.
“The deserved, necessary and respectful welcome of people who practice other faiths and religions does not mean offering them space for prayers inside churches designed for liturgy and the gathering of Christian communities,” Bishop Fausto Tardelli of Pistoia said in a statement reported on Saturday (March 19).
“They can very well find other spaces and places,” Tardelli said.
The bishop was responding to pledges by two local priests, the Rev. Massimo Biancalani and the Rev. Alessandro Carmignani, to welcome 18 Muslim refugees by giving them space to pray inside their churches.
But the two priests told Italian media they intend to defy the bishop and host the refugees in three parishes in the diocese, which is 25 miles northwest of Florence.
“What is the problem?” said Biancalani who runs the parish of Vicofaro. “If we want to give them a proper welcome and integration it makes no sense to make them pray in a cellar.
“Whoever wants to can pray inside the church, whoever does not want to can do it in another space. They don’t need much; the important thing is that they can face Mecca.”
The two priests contend they are responding to appeals by Pope Francis to help immigrants seeking support and they think praying together is a good way to enable their congregations to get to know the immigrants.
RELATED STORY: Pope says don’t turn backs on refugees
But the priests have drawn a bitter response from opponents and have even received menacing threats by telephone and on social media.
“Points of view can be discussed,” Carmignani told the newspaper La Nazione. “But the verbal threats that have been used are unspeakable.”
Francis has repeatedly urged the Catholic Church to do more to help the wave of refugees arriving in Europe from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries.
On Sunday the pope criticized those who fail to “take responsibility” for immigrants.
While they’re at it, give muzzies the @#$@#$ing keys to the Vatican.
If a muzzie prays in a place they can come back and claim that place as a mosque...
This was even an issue why?
Tell them to allow it ONLY after the muzzies allow christian prayer in a mosque
Yep. Hand out prayer rugs at the door and let them pray to their moon god in the old “temple”.
The practicers and preachers of tradition are slacking!
Are they going to let us revere Jesus on the cross in their mosques?
Abomination of Desolation!
When a church provides meeting space to non-Catholic people/groups/congregations .... it has (I think) always been to those praying to the same one true Biblical God (Orthodox, Jews, Protestants,...) and it is usually due to some local emergency or hardship situation like someone’s church burned down ....and the guest group always respects, shows respect for the hospitality
letting people enter a church to pray to Allah/Lucifer is a desecration ....( especially while Muslims are crucifying/murdering Catholics/Christians inuSyria/Iraq).
The Koran and Hadiths teach Muslims to infiltrate, invade, terrorize, conquer, subjugate, and murder Christians and Jews and other “infidels”
It would be sacrilege to have prayers to Allah in a Christian Church! Abomination of Desolation!
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The Bishop is correct!
lol. Geez. You’re hardcore :)
I think it is blasphemy and idolatry to let a muzzie use a Christian Church to pray to their false god.
Tolerance is a one way street for islam - you tolerate islam or they will keel you.
Standby for excommunication.
Good ruling.
# 14 ~ But the two priests told Italian media they intend to defy the bishop.
Standby for excommunication.
The Bishop has the right (and duty) to do so.
Wouldn’t it be automatic excommunication for them to knowingly allow a desecration to happen?
Praying to the devil in a house of worship to the 1 true God. And some people are FOR this?
Unbelievable!
As soon as they start doing that, they will then claim that the presence of the crucifix and the tabernacle offend them, and demand they be taken down. They will want to wash their feet in the holy water and baptismal fonts.
The answer should be NO...a Catholic church has been blessed and dedicated to prayer to CHRIST/GOD and should NEVER be used for prayer to a false diety
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