[HarleyD]

HD-It sounds like a bunch of gobblygook nonsense to me.”

vla-Care to prove how it is such?

It seems to me that if I read through the thing five times trying to parse the sentence structure and still can't form a coherent thought, then something isn't clicking. Grant it, it may be me but life shouldn't be so complicated. I realize Catholics have people explain things to them but I'm not like that. I like things in clear text.

Notice, the whole document is about what religions share more than what separates them. It is about hope in finding common ground to begin discussions. I think this was largely pie-in-the-sky thinking from the council fathers in the early (and very hopeful) 1960’s, but it does not deny that the Muslims deny Christ.

What religions share????? And what precisely do we share with Muslims religion-wise? The Church fathers didn't share this view in the 11-12th century when the western world was being overrun. In fact, if memory recalls, the present Pope made the mistake of reading about what one of the mid-1500s Catholic Church writers thought about Muslims not wanting peace. That took about three months and several high-level meetings to correct.

What Muslim hordes threatened Rome in 1964 or 1965? Seriously, get a clue.

Did I say 1964 or 1965? I said that the Pope and the Church don't want to make waves.

Let me know the next time the Pope goes out without his "Popemobile".

[vladimir998]

You wrote:

“I realize Catholics have people explain things to them but I’m not like that. I like things in clear text.”

So do I. I also had no one “explain” it to me. I simply read the text. I also knew how to place it in the context of the Church’s history. It ain’t hard!

“What religions share????? And what precisely do we share with Muslims religion-wise?”

Many things, ideas, and concepts.

Belief in monotheism. Belief in revelation, prophecy, inspiration, miracles, prayer, fasting, pilgrimages, houses of prayer and more. We look at all of these things differently, but we still share the ideas.

“The Church fathers didn’t share this view in the 11-12th century when the western world was being overrun.”

There were no Church fathers in the 11-12th centuries. Their time had already ended 2 0r 3 centuries earlier. Also, the West was being overrun in the 7th and 8th centuries already. And you still don’t know what you’re talking about. St. John Damascus when defending Christianity from Islamic attacks and insults often cited what Muslims did or believed to show the rightness of Christian doctrine. Here’s an example: “They furthermore accuse us of being idolaters, because we venerate the cross, which they abominate. And we answer them: ‘How is it, then, that you rub yourselves against a stone in your Ka’ba and kiss and embrace it?’”