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Bishop Miguel Ayuso Guixot, the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, will travel to Egypt soon to meet with leaders of Al Azhar University, the Vatican announced on July 12. The visit will follow up on the May meeting in Rome between Pope Francis and Sheik Ahmad al-Tayyib, the head of Al Azhar University. The purpose of the bishop's visit to Cairo, the Vatican said, will be to explore ways to resume official dialogue between the Vatican and the Egyptian institution. Al Azhar, which is generally recognized as the foremost institution in the Sunni Muslim world, had engaged...

Minya (Agenzia Fides) - An appeal to ask the police to enforce the law protecting citizens from any sectarian discrimination was launched yesterday by Anba Makarius, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of Minya, after the series of incidents which in recent weeks have again recorded a sharp rise in cases of violence suffered particularly by Egyptian Christians. Now – highlighted Coptic Orthodox Archbishop - such violent attacks from the assault on homes to targeted kidnappings for ransom, are continuing at an average of one every ten days. In recent times the assault on homes of Christian families perpetrated in the village of...

The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne has issued greetings to Muslims on the occasion of the feast of Eid al-Fitr. The Very Reverend Denis Stanley, Episcopal Vicar for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations for the Melbourne Archdiocese, wrote: The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne would like to extend its best wishes to the Muslim community in Victoria and Australia on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the Feast of the Breaking of the Fast, celebrated at the end of the sacred month of Ramadan. The Holy Qur'an was first revealed in the month of Ramadan and had a special purpose: "And We sent down...

A group of about 40 immigrants has occupied the Catholic cathedral of Regensburg, Germany, demanding that they be allowed to remain in the country. The Regensburg diocese has announced that it will not grant "asylum in the church" to the immigrants, who come from Balkan countries. However, the diocese is also not asking police to intervene.

The Vatican newspaper has published a front-page reflection on conversions to Islam. Summarizing a recent book by journalist Virginie Riva examining the conversions of 11 French women, historian Lucetta Scaraffia writes that the women were between the ages of 25 and 35, university educated, not attracted by terrorism, and either agnostic or Catholic. These women were drawn to Islam, Scaraffia said, through their friendship with Muslim students who witnessed to their religion, delighted in studying the Quran, and did not downplay Islam’s requirements regarding prayer and the role of the sexes. Accepting invitations to Ramadan meals, these women, “very often”...

The maximum damage done to the image of Islam today is by the international media which is bombarding misconceptions about it day and night using an array of strategies. This was affirmed by renowned Islamic scholar Dr Zakir Naik on Thursday night, June 16, as part of his lecture 'Media & Islam "International media, be it print, audio, video, or online, use a number of strategies to malign Islam by first picking up the black sheep of the Muslim community, and portraying them as though they are exemplary Muslims." Media is the most important tool rather the most dangerous weapon...

A muezzin’s call to prayer reverberated inside the sixth-century Istanbul landmark Hagia Sophia for the first time in 85 years on July 1. The building in the city’s historic Sultanahmet district broadcast the azan from its minarets following July 1’s Laylat al-Qadr, or night of power, marking the first revelation of the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad. The broadcast of the morning call to prayer from within Hagia Sophia is likely to reignite controversy over the use of the building, which was designated a museum in 1935 under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic. Although the...

I am sorry to all "gays." I am sorry that Pope Francis said the words "who am I too judge" and because he did not understand that the media would leave out the first part and only concentrate on the second. I am sorry that this made you think that it is okay to continue on in a life choice that will result in your spending an eternity cut off from God, in Hell. I am sorry to "gays" that the Pope has called you "gay." You see, you are not "gay" any more than you are a one-eyed, one-horned,...

Many commentators tried to implicate Christians in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Orlando. But might it not be true that Western secularists have more in common with Isis than Christians?The two realities of Islamic extremism and Western consumerism are like shadowy doppelgangers showing up each otherÂ’s bankruptcy. Consider:I. ISIS and secularists have both created aggressive sexual playgrounds for men.At first glance, the two foesÂ’ attitudes toward sex look utterly different. In the West, the Sexual Revolution strains against any restriction on sexual expression. That loose attitude toward sexuality is one of the signs of decadence in the...

The world is abuzz with talk of Brexit—the British vote to leave the European Union. Britain’s reclamation of its independence is now prompting talk that other nations might exit the EU—the Netherlands, Denmark, Greece, Italy, and a dozen more. Over on this side of the Atlantic, the Brexit initiative has renewed discussion about the U.S. exiting the UN.What you won’t hear about is any discussion of Exslam—exiting Islam. No one seems to want to suggest that it might be a good idea for Muslims to consider leaving Islam. That’s curious because Islam figures prominently in the Brexit decision. It’s...

LAHORE, Pakistan (ChurchMilitant.com) - A group of Muslim clerics in Pakistan issued a religious decree on Sunday declaring that transgender people can marry. So-called transgenderism exists in the majority-Muslim country and is more widespread than Westerners might expect. In 2009, Pakistan added "third gender" to national identity cards, allowing them to vote in 2011, and in 2012 allowed them the ability to inherit property and assets. According to a 2009 census, up to 300,000 Pakistanis identified themselves as transgender. The religious decree — known as "fatwa" — declares, "The hijras are human beings and they have rights given by Islam....

Pope Francis, who is “building bridges to build peace” around the world, has naturally reached out to embrace Sunni Muslims. Last month, for the first time after years of Vatican silence, Pope Francis summoned to his private library in Rome grand imam Ahmed El-Tayeb of Cairo’s Al-Ahzar Mosque Institute. Absent a press release before this event, the Pope was quoted as saying, “this meeting is the message” – leading all to dwell on the meaning and purpose of their 25 minutes together. Christians, especially Egyptian Coptic Christians, have observed the Catholic pope give the “sign of peace” to the grand...

Turkey says Pope Francis' description of the WW1 mass killing of Armenians as genocide shows "the mentality of the Crusades". The pontiff's remarks have "no relation to reality", Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli said. Armenia and many historians say up to 1.5 million Armenian Christians were killed by Ottoman Turkish forces in 1915. But Turkey disputes the figure and denies the deaths constituted genocide. It says the deaths were part of a civil conflict triggered by WW1. The row continues to sour Turkish-Armenian relations, drawing in other countries such as Germany, whose parliament recently declared the killings to be...

I thought Christians were supposed to pray to God. When did they become Islamic? I'm quitting my local Presbyterian church for sure. This was announced in the latest Presbyterian Church USA, 'The Layman', their internet news letter.

No excerpt per copyright issues and FR policy. The link to the article is below. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/syria-war-robert-fisk-patriarch-orthodox-church-ignatius-aphrem-assassination-attempt-isis-al-nusrah-a7093501.html

Baghdad (Agenzia Fides) - The request made by the Chaldean Patriarchate to all Iraqi Christians to unite for a day of fasting practiced by Muslims during Ramadan (see Fides 13/06/2016) has provoked some criticism, also expressed "with innappropriate words" through social network. To clarify the true extent of the initiative and unravel possible misunderstanding, the Chaldean Patriarchate, through its official channels, has called the practice of fasting, prayer and penance as ordinary tools with which, from apostolic times, the Churches of the East and all Christian communities over the world express their supplications to the Lord, even before the situations...

In a joint statement, Syriac patriarchs said 'the wound of forced emigration is still bleeding'Syriac patriarchs, marking the two-year anniversary since ISIS expelled Christians from a large part of Iraq, denounced “the ethno-religious genocide” of their people and called for the liberation of those areas. Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan and Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch in a joint statement, stressed that “the wound of forced emigration is still bleeding.” “Two years passed since the uprooting of our Syriac people from the land of our ancestors in Mosul and the Nineveh Plain,...

The draft law on the construction of churches has renewed the crisis that has existed between the ruling regimes and the Copts in Egypt since the Ottoman era. Over the years, Egypt’s Christians have requested the state to promulgate a law governing the construction of houses of worship, regulating the building of mosques for Muslims and churches for Christians, in light of the challenges in obtaining permission to build new churches, despite the growing Christian population. A law was issued on Oct. 17, 2001, governing only the construction of mosques, with no mention of the building of churches. In Egypt,...

Parishioners visiting a church in Italy were told they must “pray in silence” so as not to disturb African migrants being housed there. Some of the faithful hoping to practice their Christianity at the church of St. Anthony in Ventimiglia were surprised when they were told by Caritas volunteers they couldn’t recite the rosary and would instead have to pray in silence out of respect to migrants who are living there. Caritas is ostensibly a Catholic charity, although much of its resources are spent on facilitating mass migration to Europe; the organisation even boasts that it contributes to and seeks...

The situation of the Catholic minority, today. Two months before the Easter massacre went in the Punjab, Lahore. The faith professed in tears by the survivors. The expert analysis. And, surprise, seminars full of young peopleThey call it "city of gardens". But today the more than eleven hundred public gardens scattered throughout the territory of Lahore, capital of Punjab Pakistan, remain sadly deserts. Two months after the suicide attack of 27 March in the park Gulshan-e-Iqbal - remembered as "the Easter attack "- fear and caution are still palpable. Terrorism has struck at the heart of the metropolis of over...