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Update in Albania – Muslims pray for Pope, security a non-issue
cna ^ | September 21, 2014 | Andrea Gagliarducci

Posted on 09/21/2014 1:58:23 PM PDT by NYer

Father Federico Lombardi gives a press briefing in Tirana, Albania. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.

Father Federico Lombardi gives a press briefing in Tirana, Albania. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.

Tirana, Albania, Sep 21, 2014 / 06:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a press briefing Sunday the Vatican's spokesman downplayed worries over Pope Francis' safety in Albania, also noting that Muslims gathered in an important Tirana mosque to pray for the pontiff's visit.

Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, told journalists that the Sept. 21 papal visit has been welcomed with joy by all the Albanian religious communities.

On why Pope Francis did not stop the popemobile as he often does to greet children and embrace those with illnesses, the spokesman insisted that this was “because he had to respect the schedule, and not because of increased security measures.”

“If the Pope would get down of the jeep and start greeting people as he does in St. Peter’s Square, it would be impossible to respect the schedule,” Fr. Lombardi said.

The priest also provided some background of the one-day trip, saying that the Pope had made several reflections that have then become part of his morning speeches.

Fr. Lombardi recounted that Pope Francis was sitting in the car together with David Gjugja, the director of the Albanian section of Vatican radio, who had served as interpreter for the visit.

“The Pope noticed that there were many young people greeting him and said he was impressed. This is how he focused even more than previewed on young people, with some off the cuff in his prepared speeches,” Fr. Lombardi said.

The director of the Holy See office also revealed that Pope Francis widely commented the symbol of eagle in the Albanian flag.

According to Fr. Lombardi, “the Pope observed that the eagle fly high, but then always get back to the nest. And he made the same observation at the end of the homily, when he said not to forget of the nest, and encourage people to fly high without parting from their roots.”

On the trip from the airport to Mother Teresa square where he celebrated Mass, Pope Francis also recalled his meeting with her.

“The Pope recounted he had known Mother Teresa in 1994, during the synod on the consecrated life they were both attending,” Fr. Lombardi said.

The Pope was among the leaders – at the time he was auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires –  while Mother Teresa was among the members of Papal appointment.

Fr. Lombardi said that “Pope Francis recounted that Mother Teresa was sitting behind him during the assembly, and that he admired the strength and determination of her interventions, which she held without any reverence toward the bishops.”

“I would have feared her, if she had been my superior,” the Pope joked.

The director of the Holy See Press Office also revealed the sentence Pope Francis wrote in the Golden Book of the presidential palace, where he met with state leaders earlier in the day.

The sentence was: “To the noble people of Albania, with my respect and admiration for their testimony and their fraternità in leading the country.”

In his address, the president of Albania Bujar Nishani reminded that coexistence is very important for the life of the country, underscored the deep relationship between the Holy See and Albania and – as a Muslim – expressed his view that the papal trip is a blessing for all the Albanian citizens.

“Speaking with Pope Francis, the president also stressed the need of respect to carry forward the Albanian harmony, and this is the reason why the Pope wanted to underline it with a short out of program in his speech at the presidential palace,” Fr. Lombardi said.

There are no official data for the participation to the Mass, but Fr. Lombardi said “it is credible that between 250,000 and 300,000 people have taken place to the celebrations,” and that they came by several countries, especially Kosovo, Montenegro and Macedonia.


TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events; Islam; Ministry/Outreach
KEYWORDS: albania; popefrancis; romancatholicism
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1 posted on 09/21/2014 1:58:23 PM PDT by NYer
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To: Tax-chick; GregB; Berlin_Freeper; SumProVita; narses; bboop; SevenofNine; Ronaldus Magnus; tiki; ...

Ping!


2 posted on 09/21/2014 1:58:49 PM PDT by NYer ("You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears." James 4:14)
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To: NYer
A POPE in Albania??

MOTHER THERESA had something to do with that.

She must have some POWERFUL pull in heaven. :o)

3 posted on 09/21/2014 2:12:30 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: cloudmountain
A POPE in Albania??

When the Pope visits Algoria, THAT will be a miracle...

4 posted on 09/21/2014 2:20:52 PM PDT by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
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To: NYer

OK, a serious question to my fellow Christians: if a Muslim prays for the Pope’s protection, does God hear and answer the prayer because it is His will that His servants be protected, or does God not hear nor answer the prayer because it is misdirected towards Allah, who either doesn’t exist (Isaiah 40), or exists but is demonic (I Corinthians 10) and therefore does not desire the protection of the Pope?


5 posted on 09/21/2014 2:23:37 PM PDT by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
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To: cloudmountain

Also, because of the 40+ years of Communist rule, it pretty much destroyed a lot of Islam’s hold in Albania.


6 posted on 09/21/2014 2:27:40 PM PDT by dfwgator (The "Fire Muschamp" tagline is back!)
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To: chajin
When the Pope visits Algoria, THAT will be a miracle...

Algoria, isn't that the place where people have "head" trouble? That is, they have their head:

in the clouds

buried in the sand

OR

up their butts?

7 posted on 09/21/2014 2:30:02 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: NYer; The Ignorant Fisherman

bump


8 posted on 09/21/2014 2:34:08 PM PDT by RaceBannon (Lk 16:31 And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the prophets neither will theybe persuaded)
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To: chajin
OK, a serious question to my fellow Christians: if a Muslim prays for the Pope’s protection, does God hear and answer the prayer because it is His will that His servants be protected, or does God not hear nor answer the prayer because it is misdirected towards Allah, who either doesn’t exist (Isaiah 40), or exists but is demonic (I Corinthians 10) and therefore does not desire the protection of the Pope?

How on EARTH are we to know God's plans, what He hears/doesn't hear and what His opinion is about Allah and/or the Pope?

Since we are NOT privy to our good God's mind, perhaps you only meant it rhetorically.

9 posted on 09/21/2014 2:34:32 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: chajin

If a Muslim publically states that he is praying for the Pope’s protection, he is likely employing Taqiyya.


10 posted on 09/21/2014 2:45:52 PM PDT by laplata (Liberals don't get it .... their minds are diseased.)
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To: NYer

“also noting that Muslims gathered in an important Tirana mosque to pray for the pontiff’s visit.”

I find this rather hard to believe. I think it’s made up.


11 posted on 09/21/2014 3:31:42 PM PDT by Slambat (q)
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To: chajin; NYer
I was thinking about this question just today.

God, of course, does something we will never be able to do: he sees into people's hearts and minds, and He knows their thoughts and their motivations even better than they do, themselves.

So it seems to me there is not just a blanket "yes" or "no" answer to the question, "Does God hear the prayers of Muslims, even or especially when they are praying for the safety of a Christian?"

He knows when their intention is, "I am praying to the One God, the Creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible, Whoever He may be" --- and that is perfectly plausible even if they say "Allah," since Allah is merely the Arabic word of "God" --- Arabic-speaking Christians were using this word for God for 500+ years before Mohammad was even born. He also knows when their intention is, "I am praying to the 'god' who demands the slaughter of infidels."

He will judge accordingly. With perfect fairness and perfect accuracy. So perfect, that when all things come to light, every good-hearted and fair-minded person on earth will be punching the air and cheering and saying, "He got that exactly right!"

12 posted on 09/21/2014 3:55:56 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o (Sanity is the adequate response of the mind to the real thing: adaequatio mentis ad rem.)
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To: cloudmountain
"How on EARTH are we to know God's plans, what He hears/doesn't hear and what His opinion is about Allah and/or the Pope?"

Well, if by Allah you mean Islam, I think it's pretty clear what God thinks about any false doctrine that denies His Son.

13 posted on 09/21/2014 4:40:34 PM PDT by CatherineofAragon ((Support Christian white males---the architects of the jewel known as Western Civilization.))
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To: cloudmountain

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20031019_madre-teresa_en.html

“By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus. ”Small of stature, rocklike in faith, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was entrusted with the mission of proclaiming God’s thirsting love for humanity, especially for the poorest of the poor. “God still loves the world and He sends you and me to be His love and His compassion to the poor.” She was a soul filled with the light of Christ, on fire with love for Him and burning with one desire: “to quench His thirst for love and for souls.”


14 posted on 09/21/2014 6:51:33 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Mrs. Don-o; All
I was thinking about this question just today.
God, of course, does something we will never be able to do: he sees into people's hearts and minds, and He knows their thoughts and their motivations even better than they do, themselves.

Ah yes, the voice of reason!

So it seems to me there is not just a blanket "yes" or "no" answer to the question, "Does God hear the prayers of Muslims, even or especially when they are praying for the safety of a Christian?"
And yet MORE reason.

He knows when their intention is, "I am praying to the One God, the Creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible, Whoever He may be" --- and that is perfectly plausible even if they say "Allah," since Allah is merely the Arabic word of "God" --- Arabic-speaking Christians were using this word for God for 500+ years before Mohammad was even born. He also knows when their intention is, "I am praying to the 'god' who demands the slaughter of infidels."
You are AMAZING, Mrs. Don-o.

He will judge accordingly. With perfect fairness and perfect accuracy. So perfect, that when all things come to light, every good-hearted and fair-minded person on earth will be punching the air and cheering and saying, "He got that exactly right!"
All I can say is BRAVO!

15 posted on 09/21/2014 6:58:28 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: Salvation
“By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus. ”Small of stature, rocklike in faith, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was entrusted with the mission of proclaiming God’s thirsting love for humanity, especially for the poorest of the poor. “God still loves the world and He sends you and me to be His love and His compassion to the poor.”
She was a soul filled with the light of Christ, on fire with love for Him and burning with one desire: “to quench His thirst for love and for souls.”

Imagine, she went to India to give the dying some dignity.
She searched the foul streets of India JUST to bring in those DISCARDED men, women, children and BABIES, DISCARDED, THROWN AWAY by their own families and gave them food, clothes, some medicine (if she had it), a bed in which to die...and LOVE, the love of God from her heart.

She was a MOST unusual women...a true saint in our day!

16 posted on 09/21/2014 7:05:31 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: cloudmountain
You're welcome.


17 posted on 09/22/2014 5:02:32 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o (Sanity is the adequate response of the mind to the real thing: adaequatio mentis ad rem.)
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To: cloudmountain

Thanks for this! Mother Teresa’s words are always like water in the desert.


18 posted on 09/22/2014 5:06:06 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o (Sanity is the adequate response of the mind to the real thing: adaequatio mentis ad rem.)
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To: chajin; cloudmountain; laplata; CatherineofAragon; Mrs. Don-o
"if a Muslim prays for the Pope’s protection, does God hear and answer the prayer"

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me..."

19 posted on 09/22/2014 2:04:13 PM PDT by Wyrd bið ful aræd (Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo et mundabor, Lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.)
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To: Wyrd bið ful aræd; chajin; cloudmountain; laplata; CatherineofAragon
Of course that's true, Wyrd. There is only One True God. We knwow this.

But that's just the point; nobody can know WHAT 'god' another person is truly adhering to in his or her heart. If they think and believe that they are adhering to the Creator of Heaven and Earth, of all things Visible and Invisible, and pray to Him, the God of Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus, then so it is: He is not slow to hear the prayers of those who call upon Him.

If they know and intend to dedicate themselves to the 'god' who decrees evil, then so it is as well.

We are authorized and capable of judging things we can outwardly know: words and deeds. We can judge words as true or false, as cruel or kind. We can judge deeds as wrong or right, good or evil.

But we cannot judge interior dispositions and motivations. Only God can do that. And it is iniquitous for us to judge things we cannot know.

"Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. " John 7:24

Here is a video of a man, named by his parents "Muhammad" but now known by his Baptismal name, Mario Joseph, who was initially influenced by the Koran to consider in his mind whether Jesus might be actually greater than Mohammad! (LINK)

This was when he was 18, and things were mixed and confused in his mind (as they so often are with us fallible human beings in this world of error.) But he finally came to seek and find the Lord Jesus and to reject Mohammad's claims.

He s now a full-time Christian evangelist!

It's worth a watch.

My point is, we can be confused but the Lord can be calling us to a fuller vision of Himself and the Truths we hold in the Christian Faith.

So if some Muslim prays, "True God, Whoever you are, please protect the Christians and lead me to all Truth" --- Who do you suppose is inspiring this good prayer? Is it not the Holy Spirit, who through Grace can lead him step-by-step to Christ and to all Truth?

20 posted on 09/22/2014 2:36:30 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o ("Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. " John 7:24)
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