Stunning

American Thinker ^ | Oct 30, 2010 | Michael Geer

[Rashputin]

Stunning Michael Geer

The Vatican has called for Israel to end its occupation of "Arab lands," noting that all of what we define currently as Israel is "Arab land."

That the Bible must not be used to justify either their ‘occupation' nor their ‘injustices' against Palestinians.

"The Holy Scriptures cannot be used to justify the return of Jews to Israel and the displacement of the Palestinians, to justify the occupation by Israel of Palestinian lands," Monsignor Cyril Salim Bustros, Greek Melkite archbishop of Our Lady of the Annunciation in Boston, Massachusetts, and president of the "Commission for the Message," said at Saturday's Vatican press conference.

"We Christians cannot speak of the ‘promised land' as an exclusive right for a privileged Jewish people. This promise was nullified by Christ. There is no longer a chosen people - all men and women of all countries have become the chosen people."

You've just been witness to a significant event in the End Times unfolding, amigo. The Vatican stating that Israel is "no longer a chosen people".

The Vatican has just nullified the Bible, and elevated Replacement Theology in full public view.

This is .... stunning.

[Iscool]

The Melkites, or Byzantine Rite Catholics of mixed Middle Eastern and Greek origin, are the descendants of the early Christians of Antioch, Syria, of the 1st century A.D. Christianity was established in this area of the Middle East by St. Peter before he traveled on to the imperial city of Rome.

The bible is a wonderful thing...It clears up a lot of rumors, superstition and outright untruths...

Act 11:19 Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.

Act 11:21 And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.
Act 11:22 Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.

Act 11:25 Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul:
Act 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

Stephen went to Antioch...Barnabas went to Antioch...And Paul went to Antioch...Peter was never in Antioch...

Act 23:11 And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

Hmmmm...Jesus personally told Paul to go to Rome to 'bear witness'...Obviously Peter was not there to bear witness for the lord...Apparently Paul was the first high profile Christian to bear witness at Rome...

[Iscool]

If a Bapstist minister tells a doctrinal error, does he speak for every single Baptist minister and every single Baptist member, in the entire world!?!

If no one disagrees with him, obviously so...

[Outership]

“If a Bapstist minister tells a doctrinal error, does he speak for every single Baptist minister and every single Baptist member, in the entire world!?!”

You consider a Baptist minister to be the equivalent of an Archbishop of the Vatican? So much for the educated, structured, vetted, and gilded hierarchy of the Vatican.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“No I simply corrected you because you attributed
that quote to Pope Benedict, and he did not say it.
Continuing to say otherwise is bearing false witness
against him.”

Sorry, but I must disagree with both of your claims.

The Vatican is headed by the Pope. They do not issue
theological statements independently from the sitting
Pope. I find that claim unreasonable. If that is true,
he isn’t much of a leader. I personally believe he has
the situation fully under control. I’m surprised you
would make an argument that ultimately must rely on a
“weak pope” theory to support your claim. I find him
to be a strong leader, even when I disagree with him.

The best you can claim is that we do not know if he
physically formed the words with his own mouth. You do
not know that. I do not know that. What I believe is that
the vatican expresses what the Pope tells them. You can
believe otherwise. I don’t find your argument convincing.

For this reason, I also do not agree that saying he is
responsible for the statement is bearing false witness.

best,
ampu

[mas cerveza por favor]

Everybody under the Pope is considered Roman Catholic, even if they practice another rite which is not the Roman Rite.

Also, like most other Heads-of-State the Pope has a Press Office.

The Church is not a state nor is it a multinational corporation. Unsigned press releases and low-ranking bureaucratic statements have zero authority as Church teaching.

[Lil Flower]

**You consider a Baptist minister to be the equivalent of an Archbishop of the Vatican? So much for the educated, structured, vetted, and gilded hierarchy of the Vatican**

You did not answer my question.

[Lil Flower]

But what if someone did disagree with him and you just dont know about it?

[Lil Flower]

**Sorry, but I must disagree with both of your claims.**

Well you are certainly free to disagree. That, however, does not change the truth.

[Iscool]

But what if someone did disagree with him and you just dont know about it?

Sorry, but your pope didn't disagree with it...And he was there...

And that puts your religion at odds with millions of Christians worldwide...Perhaps the line in the sand has been drawn...

[Brucifer]

I’d say it is our good fortune to be in Texas. God Bless Texas!

Thanks.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“Well you are certainly free to disagree.
That, however, does not change the truth.”

I do disagree. So far, we have your assertion
alone that the Pope did not say this. You may
be entirely correct. For some reason though,
you are not sharing your hidden knowledge with
me. You have not submitted any such facts,
evidence or argument that supports your claim.

The best you can claim is that you just don’t know
whether the Vatican spoke at his direction or whether
they are going rogue. I could accept that level of
honesty.

You seem to be claiming that you know. If you really
know, then please share it here by submitting some
new evidence that supports your claim and I will read it.

Fair enough?

Thanks,
ampu

[higgmeister]

You are reading to much into this. My only point was that the angry deranged Archbishop was not a Roman Catholic and did not answer to the Roman Pope.

Sorry you missed that. My only dog in this hunt is debunking a radical attempting to spin the story.

[higgmeister]

Everybody under the Pope is considered Roman Catholic, even if they practice another rite which is not the Roman Rite.

Perhaps you missed it. This Archbishop in the article is not under the Pope.

Gregory III, Patriarch of the Church of Antioch, is the spiritual leader of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. He was elected patriarch on November 29, 2000, succeeding Maximos V Hakim, who resigned at age 92 due to failing health, dying seven months later. He took the name Gregory after Patriarch Gregory II Youssef, the last member of his order to be elected patriarch. Patriarch Gregory, who studied in Europe and is multilingual, is author of several books on eastern theology and spirituality.

Also, like most other Heads-of-State the Pope has a Press Office.

The Church is not a state nor is it a multinational corporation. Unsigned press releases and low-ranking bureaucratic statements have zero authority as Church teaching.

http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/homepage.htm

Almost every nation on Earth recognizes the Vatican City as a nation state. You may have noticed in a link to another article posted on this thread that Mordechay Lewy, Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See refuted what the Archbishop Bustros presented in his communique. The United States Embassy to the Holy See is Dr. Miguel Humberto Diaz.

By the way, the Vatican also has its own laws, legislative and judicial authority, and President.

The Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State (Italian: Pontificia Commissione per lo Stato della Città del Vaticano) is the legislative body of Vatican City. It consists of Cardinals appointed to five year terms by the pope.

Laws and regulations proposed by the Commission must be submitted to the pope through the Secretariat of State prior to being made public and taking effect.[1] Laws, regulations, and instructions enacted by the Commission are published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.

The Commission is led by a president, currently Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo of Italy. In addition to his legislative role, the president is delegated executive authority for the state by the pope.

That is why the POTUS can receive him at the White House as a visiting Head-of-State.

It's not my cup of tea, but the RCC does have its bases covered.

[higgmeister]

The Vatican is headed by the Pope. They do not issue theological statements independently from the sitting Pope. I find that claim unreasonable. If that is true, he isn’t much of a leader. I personally believe he has the situation fully under control. I’m surprised you would make an argument that ultimately must rely on a “weak pope” theory to support your claim. I find him to be a strong leader, even when I disagree with him.

The best you can claim is that we do not know if he physically formed the words with his own mouth. You do not know that. I do not know that. What I believe is that the vatican expresses what the Pope tells them. You can believe otherwise. I don’t find your argument convincing.

For this reason, I also do not agree that saying he is responsible for the statement is bearing false witness.

Archbishop Bustros is not a Roman Catholic. He answers to Gregory III, Patriarch of the Church of Antioch, is the spiritual leader of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.

[Lil Flower]

**“We Christians cannot speak of the ‘promised land’ as an exclusive right for a privileged Jewish people. This promise was nullified by Christ. There is no longer a chosen people - all men and women of all countries have become the chosen people.”

Sorry Pope, sir. You need to review the Scriptures.

“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

Romans 11**

You attributed the above quote directly to the Pope. I simply stated that the Pope did not say the above quote. All I said was go back and reread the quote and you have gone all around the world trying to explain how the Pope might have said it. Its really quite simple, THE POPE DID NOT SAY THE ABOVE QUOTE! Wow!

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“THE POPE DID NOT SAY THE ABOVE QUOTE! “

Who did, specifically?

Wow to you too :-)

[Lil Flower]

**ob·fus·cate verb \ˈäb-fə-ˌskāt; äb-ˈfəs-ˌkāt, əb-\ ob·fus·cat·edob·fus·cat·ing Definition of OBFUSCATE transitive verb 1a : darken b : to make obscure 2: confuse intransitive verb : to be evasive, unclear, or confusing** Could you just please answer the question? If you can't< then just say so. Thanks.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

OK, I will revise and extend my comments so that you, lil flower, feel much better...

“ROME – Bishops from the Middle East who were summoned to Rome by the pope demanded on Saturday that Israel accept UN resolutions calling for an end to its “occupation” of Arab lands.”

“The bishops issued the statement at the close of their two-week meeting, called by Pope Benedict XVI to discuss the plight of Christians in the Middle East amid a major exodus of the faithful from the region.”

http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=192474

Wake UP Pope! When YOU summon the bishops to meet and issue a statement, YOU shouldn’t be AWOL on the Bible
when the statement comes out of YOUR vatican.

There, I think that covers your objection and sensitivities.

Best,
ampu

[Lil Flower]

At a press conference explaining the final message of the Synod for the Middle East, Archbishop Cyrille Salim Bustros said, among many other things, that the Holy Scriptures cannot be used to justify the return of Jews to Israel and the displacement of the Palestinians, to justify the occupation by Israel of Palestinian lands…. We Christians cannot speak of the 'promised land' as an exclusive right for a privileged Jewish people. This promise was nullified by Christ. There is no longer a chosen people—all men and women of all countries have become the chosen people. This statement is fairly sharp, perhaps a trifle too sharp, and it does tend to over-simplify the theological question of the permanent election of the Jewish people. It is also somewhat peculiar that this pointed remark was made on behalf of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East by the Melkite Greek Catholic bishop of Newton, Massachusetts

[Lil Flower]

**Wow to you too :-)**

I’m sorry. I shouldnt be smarmy. Just frustrated is all.